Doutzen is back. After stepping out of the spotlight years ago, the model is now making her comeback on Vogue’s September cover. In the magazine, she talks candidly about her life and the decision to revive her modeling career.
For years, Doutzen Kroes was one of the most successful models in the world, but that stopped when she ended her career in 2022. However, this did not mean a definitive end, because Doutzen is back. The 39-year-old graces the cover of the September issue of Dutch Vogue.
Doutzen is back
In the latest Vogue, Doutzen tells her story and explains why she stepped out of the spotlight. “Everyone could express their creativity on me, photographers, stylists, make-up artists, but I was not heard. I was so done with that. As a model, I never had a voice, and that was one of the reasons for my rebellion.” For fear of not being booked anymore, Doutzen felt she could never say ‘no’ to an important client. And that was too much for her. “I had to get out of that rat race, back to zero.”
Although she has now decided to make a comeback, she now takes on everything. As a model, she wants to make her own choices, because she says she was lived for far too long. “When people said that to me, I thought and answered: no, I decide everything myself, but I discovered that I was totally lived. Clients call that ‘professional’, if you keep your mouth shut and never complain. Not even if you run into the cold in a bikini at -5 degrees, or are still waiting in a bathrobe at two in the morning for that fitting for a show.”
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Comeback on the catwalk
The Vogue cover is Doutzen’s first shoot since she announced her retirement from modeling in 2022. She has already made a comeback on the catwalk. Earlier this year, she walked a show for Victoria’s Secret, but also for other major designer brands such as Chloé and Alaïa.
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Doutzen on the catwalk for Chloé during Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2024-2025
Sheep wool sweaters
The photos for Vogue, which will be in stores from Thursday, were taken in Ibiza. But the magazine also visited her parental home in Friesland. On Instagram, Vogue Nederland shares a number of unique images of this visit.
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The model speaks candidly about the environment in which she was raised. “I come from a Frisian Calvinist, idealistic home. Saving the world, being good to nature and the community: that is ingrained in me. As a child, I was never allowed to shower for long. In our house, it was not about who was on the cover of Vogue, we had a subscription to Natural Monuments and the GroenLinks party magazine. I wore sweaters made of sheep’s wool that my mother had knitted. If someone drove a big car, my parents had an opinion about it.”
Doutzen continues: “That’s why I always wondered if I was doing it right, because I wasn’t saving lives. My father was proud, sometimes a little too much in public, but especially for my mother it was a long time: don’t stick your head above the parapet. I always felt a layer of silent condemnation with her. When I dared to tell her that recently, she was very shocked, she wasn’t aware of it. Being honest, that’s how you lead to beautiful healing processes. It’s wonderful that I can now share my pain with her, without her experiencing it as a reproach, and that we both continue to grow because of it.”
Source: Instagram @nlvogue, Vogue NL | Image: NL Beeld
