In 2004, Candice Swanepoel walked into the Vogue office for her first casting Polaroid. Although it would be some time before Swanepoel became a fixture of the Victoria’s Secret runway, although New York was a far cry from the South African dairy farm where she’d grown up, the sixteen-year-old who arrived dressed in black, her hair a bit darker than the flaxen shade she’s known for now, she already displayed the supermodel spark that would launch her career a few years later.
Fast-forward to 2007, when the sand-strewn seraph walked her first Victoria’s Secret show. Another three years later, she earned her wings, and at the Victoria’s Secret show in 2013, she donned the Fantasy Bra—featuring $10 million worth of bedazzling jewels. Off-swimsuit season, the Angel gets down to earth, with a modeling career that has flourished on multiple runways—most recently walking the spring 2015 shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, and Diane von Furstenberg.
Here, take a look at the versatile model’s best moments in Vogue—and her decade-long transformation from casting call candidate to runway star.
