We’re Bored by Doutzen Kroes’ Seventh Vogue Netherlands Cover (Forum Buzz)

We’re fairly used to seeing Doutzen Kroes looking picture perfect with a face full of makeup and hair styled into oblivion for the majority of her work. Vogue Netherlands serves up a different concept for the Dutch beauty this month with an effortlessly beautiful April cover, Doutzen’s seventh cover appearance for the title. Photographed by Duy Vo, the team took things outdoors on location in Nepal with Doutzen perched on some rocks wearing Michael Kors.

IMAGE: VOGUE.NL

Members of our forums wanted something more exciting and glamorous, however. “It looks awful and I find it very boring, resembling a standard holiday snap,” critiqued DutchHomme the moment the cover came to light.

“It’s boring because Doutzen is boring and Vogue Netherlands is boring, so added together it’s the definition of boring,” chimed in anlabe32.

“Doutzen for Vogue Netherlands…what a surprise,” laughed an unimpressed narcyza.

Echoing the same sentiments was KateTheGreatest: “This is too plain for Vogue, but it is Vogue Netherlands and they don’t exactly make stellar covers. But still it is boring.”

Oxymore was in agreement, expressing, “Looks like ELLE, not Vogue…”

“Oh my eyes, it hurts,” exclaimed a horrified phungnam96.

“Nice enough, like the red, can’t expect much from Vogue Netherlands,” reasoned Nymphaea.
HeatherAnne added, “It’s bad, but by Vogue Netherlands’ standards it’s a masterpiece. I’ll give them credit because they shot outside, for once.”

See the content of Vogue Netherlands’ April 2016 issue and join the conversation here.

Inval Fiod bij vastgoedbaasje Peter Bakker wegens belastingontduiking

 

Pech voor Peter Bakker. De flamboyante stenenschuiver ligt momenteel onder de loep van het OM wegens vermeende belastingontduiking. 

 

Lees ook: Zo viert het modellenmeisje van miljonair Peter Bakker haar 30e verjaardag, met Doutzen Kroes (foto’s, video’s)

Samen met broer Mark is Peter Bakker een bekende Nederlandse vastgoedbelegger die niet schuw is wat media-aandacht. Vorige maand viel de Fiod binnen in twee villa’s van de broers aan de Amstel om bewijsmateriaal te verzamelen voor de vermeende fiscale fraude. Dat meldt het FD.

De broers, die in het circuit ook wel de Baker Boys worden genoemd, hebben via hun Overvast bv een imposante vastgoedportefeuille van €103 miljoen. Zo bezitten ze onder meer winkelpanden in de PC Hooftstraat en de De Lairessestraat. Het eigen vermogen bedraagt €30 miljoen.

Peter en Mark Bakker worden ervan verdacht een pand opzettelijk te laag te hebben gewaardeerd. Voor fiscalisten is dit een indicatie van het ontduiken van overdrachtsbelasting. Dit gebeurt meestal bij transacties tussen aan elkaar gelieerde partijen. Het voordeel van te lage overdrachtsbelasting wordt dan onderling verdeeld.

Volgens een woordvoerder van Overvast gaat het hier slechts om een ‘fiscale discussie’. ‘Ze zien de uitkomsten van het onderzoek met vertrouwen tegemoet en verlenen hieraan hun volledige medewerking.’

Peter Bakker was de laatste tijd vooral in het nieuws vanwege zijn relatie met het Russische topmodel Natasha Poly. Zij gaven elkaar in 2011 het jawoord in St. Tropez. Afgelopen zomer vierde zij haar 30ste verjaardag in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel op zo’n grootse wijze dat ook Doutzen Kroes, allerhande collega Russische modellen en de Italiaanse en Amerikaanse Vogue langskwamen.

Too curvy for the catwalk

 

Doutzen Kroes: fashion's curvy sensation

She's too voluptuous for haute couture but that hasn't stopped Victoria's Secret model Doutzen Kroes from cracking the modelling world's top 10. Photo: Getty Images

Doutzen Kroes might not fit the mold of a top model.

She's a jeans-and-T-shirt girl. She likes - and eats - bread. She wasn't discovered in a remote place by a famous scout or photographer. And at 25, she has curves that have kept her off a lot of high fashion runways.

But somehow, none of that matters.

Kroes ranked No. 5 this year on the Forbes list of top-earning models. She's most recognized as a Victoria's Secret Angel, the brand's top tier of models, a spokeswoman for L'Oreal and the former face of Calvin Klein Eternity.

 

"My life has always been like I'm in a bubble and it's floating and it goes in the right direction," Kroes says. "I don't want to interrupt it."

It was Kroes, a Dutch native, who got the ball - or bubble - rolling. As a teenager, she saw a magazine photo of a model and she thought to herself, "She has beautiful hair, beautiful makeup, a beautiful dress, and I thought I'd like to look like that one day."

Her sister took photos and Kroes sent them off to a modeling agency in Amsterdam, a place she rarely visited as a self-described "country girl." Kroes' passion until then had been competitive speed skating.

Other than her sister, no one knew about her new high-fashion ambition.

"I didn't tell anybody that I sent the pictures because I'd be embarrassed if I didn't get the job," she says.

Apparently she didn't need to worry with her long blond hair, blue eyes and Brigitte Bardot look. She relocated to New York within a year.

Kroes has a "modern style," describes L'Oreal's international general manager Vianney Derville, who also says the model is "blessed with an excellent sense of professionalism and a natural elegance."

On most days, you'll still find her in jeans, T-shirt and flat shoes, but she likes stepping it up for a night out. At last month's Costume Institute Gala Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kroes was the date of designer Zac Posen, wearing a princess-worthy blue gown that they collaborated on.
For the Cannes Film Festival a few days later, she wore a glamorous Grecian-style gown with a plunging neckline by Roberto Cavalli.

Next week, she'll present the popular-vote award at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Hollywood-style awards show.

Kroes is outspoken about her feminine, curvy figure and how it's cost her jobs. She was a panelist for the CFDA's round-table discussion about too-skinny models and says she hasn't done as much runway work as she'd like because she doesn't always fit the sample size.

"I have to work really hard. My body - I have a voluptuous body. I am not one of those skinny girls. I like to enjoy life," she says.

Her shape has served her well when it comes to Victoria's Secret. Still, in the lead up to the big Victoria's Secret runway show she'll temporarily give up the bread, cheese and chocolate that she loves.

"I am a totally healthy girl that eats but eats in moderation and I take care of myself."

Doutzen Kroes: I Feel Guilty Doing A Job 'That Makes Certain Girls Insecure'

When we see perfectly smooth, impossibly slim models staring back at us from magazine pages, it's hard not to get a little insecure about our own looks. But it might help to know that the models themselves realize their impact. Doutzen Kroes reportedly told the New York Post:

"Sometimes it makes me feel guilty now that I am in this profession that makes certain girls insecure... I always say, I don't look like the picture."

She added, "If you put me in bad light with no hair and makeup, it's not good... I wake up sometimes like, this is not what I see when I look at the magazine, who is this visitor in the bathroom?"

It's a thankfully refreshing sentiment that Doutzen, a Victoria's Secret regular, has expressed before. "Girls think they have to be that picture," she told the Telegraph in September, "And even boys, they think that that picture exists."

Other models, including Victoria's Secret Angels, have been equally forthcoming with their displeasure over being Photoshopped. Model Erin Heatherton said of her airbrushed photos, "I feel like it looks like someone else. I guess it's not fair... You look better, but it's a lie." Cindy Crawford has made similar comments, famously quipping, "Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford!"

But all the models' openness and candor on the subject hasn't seemed to force much change. Kroes and Heatherton might not like being airbrushed, but their photos are being digitally retouched anyway. Only a few models have taken strong stands against being Photoshopped, such as Coco Rocha, who objected to her clothes being digitally removed (less so the way her body, skin or general appearance may have been altered).

Thus far, it's the publications that have taken the no-Photoshop stands, with Seventeen vowing to publish one unretouched photo spread per issue and a newer magazine called Verily that committing to a strict no-Photoshop policy for all its fashion spreads.

But progress is inching along slowly. Perhaps if the models themselves refused to work with photographers or editors who might airbrush them (and subsequently contribute to girls' insecurities), we might see less Photoshop in our magazines and ads.

Doutzen Kroes Doesn't Need a Sheer Dress to Prove She Has a Perfect Body

Doutzen Kroes looking fast while standing still in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images for IMG

With a new crop of faces like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner dominating headlines and beauty contracts recently, it can be easy to forget that just because a model has been on the scene for a while, it doesn't mean that she's lost the ability to kill it at a promotional appearance. 

On Thursday in Germany, model (and mother of two) Doutzen Kroes posed in front of a Mercedes Benz car at Berlin Fashion Week, wearing a slinky Stella McCartney halter dress that left basically nothing to the imagination — and she still looked better than our wildest dreams. While other paparazzi magnets (Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, et al.) have opted for sheer or transparent dresses on red carpets to demonstrate their otherworldly proportions and muscle tone, Kroes accomplished the same in a simple yet stunning dress in cool modern swatches of color. Ok, sure — the back is completely open and therefore a flaw in my theory. But Kroes gets a pass for having above-average back muscles that we, the public, deserve to see.

Life's a beach! Doutzen Kroes shares a kiss with husband Sunnery James as they watch their children play on the sand

Life as a supermodel certainly comes with envy-inducing perks.

And being able to spend the summer at the beach is certainly one of them. 

Doutzen Kroes relaxed on the white sands of Ibiza as she spent the day with her husband and their two children on Monday.

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Life's a beach! Doutzen Kroes and her husband Sunnery James smile as they watch their one-year-old daughter Myllena crawl on the sand in Ibiza

Island life certainly seems to agree with the Dutch beauty, who has spent the past few weeks on the Spanish isle.

Her hair worn loose and wavy beneath a hat, Doutzen kept things suitably casual with a white cover-up.

Getting on her hands and knees, the 30-year-old joined her four-year-old Phyllon in building in the sand, before playing with his truck. 

We made this! the proud parents kiss as they hug their daughter

Daddy's girl! Sunnery plays with his daughter as they enjoy the perks of island life

Watched by family members her one-year-old daughter Myllena toddled nearby, before going to her mom for a cuddle.

Doutzen happily obliged, sharing a kiss with her handsome husband Sunnery James while holding her daughter in her arms.

It's a working vacation for DJ Sunnery, who is also Dutch.

He has combined family time with playing sets at the island's famed clubs, including Pacha and Ushuaia.

Summer off: Island life certainly seems to agree with the Dutch beauty

Family fun: The couple has been spending the past several weeks in the famed Spanish vacation spot, where Sunnery has had a series of DJ gigs

Model mom: The Dutch supermodel and her son Phyllon, four, dig in the sand together

His late night work obviously doesn't stop him enjoying the delights of Ibiza, however, with Sunnery joining in Monday's fun.

Despite being a mother of two, Doutzen has already regained her model figure.

She shared an Instagram snap showing off her toned figure on Sunday, writing 'Working out in the pool.'

Day off: It's a working vacation for DJ Sunnery, who has been playing sets at the island's famed clubs

Bonding: Doutzen played in the sand with little Phyllon and her darling daughter Myllena

Summer style: Doutzen's hair was worn loose and wavy beneath a hat, slightly concealing her glowing bare-faced complexion

The former Victoria's Secret model has credited her return to form to a ballet-infused exercise regime.

She explained to Us Weekly last month: 'I began Ballet Baby, which is similar to Ballet Beautiful - but specifically designed, as the name implies, for pregnancy.

'There aren't any particular moves that I do to make me feel stronger or better because the entire workout does that.'

Sure beats the gym! Doutzen shared an Instagram snap, writing 'Working out in the pool'

Supermodel Doutzen Kroes’s Angelic Face

Q&A with the Dutch-born supermodel, whose small-town values keep her grounded, whether on the Victoria’s Secret catwalk or the red carpet at Cannes

PRETTY PERFECT | Clockwise from top left: Kroes in a 2009 Calvin Klein Eternity fragrance ad; with Fiat scion Lapo Elkann, photographed by Mario Testino for Vogue, 2007; in Calvin Klein Collection dress on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in 2013; a school photo of Kroes at age 8; in Tanzania with HIV/AIDS–awareness charity Dance4Life in 2012; with her family after the birth of her daughter; modeling for Victoria’s Secret, 2014 Photo: Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of Calvin Klein Inc.; Mario Testino for U.S. Vogue; Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images; Courtesy of Doutzen Kroes; Annelies Damen; © Corbis; © Sartorial Photo/Splash News/Corbis

WHEN DOUTZEN KROES landed in New York City in 2003 from her native Eastermar, Holland—population 1,600—with ambitions of becoming a model, she quickly realized she was out of her league. Not only was the urban terrain a struggle for her (Kroes, then 18, had been to Amsterdam only once and had never even taken a tram, let alone the A train), but the 5-foot-9 blonde was repeatedly rejected on casting calls for being “too pretty,” which apparently distracted from the fashion on show. Kroes remembers, “It was strange: I thought, isn’t [being attractive] how it’s supposed to be?”

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Fast-forward to 2014, when she was named the second-highest-paid model in the world by Forbes magazine—surpassed only by Gisele Bündchen. It’s an achievement due in part to her longtime contract with L’Oréal Paris, for which she has appeared in television commercials and walked the Cannes red carpet. Kroes’s face has also been featured in countless ads, including for Tiffany & Co., Dolce & Gabbana and two Calvin Klein fragrances. And in 2008 she underwent a rite of passage—receiving her wings, or in layman’s terms, an invitation to become a Victoria’s Secret “angel,” which has resulted in its own hybrid of commercial and editorial stardom.

Now, less than a year after the birth of her daughter, Myllena Mae (joining her 4-year-old son, Phyllon), with her DJ husband, Sunnery James, Kroes stars on WSJ. Magazine’s spring fashion cover. Here, Kroes, who recently turned 30, reflects on the Dutch secret to her success, balancing modeling with motherhood and what’s next.

WSJ: Did you always want to be a model?

Doutzen Kroes: I wanted to become a teacher like my mother, or a charity worker. But my mom says that when I was younger I told her, “People are going to know me,” so I guess I always had that idea. We didn’t have fashion magazines around the house, so I would see someone like Jennifer Lopez’s CD covers and think, “I would love to have hair or makeup like that.” I secretly sent my pictures to a modeling agency in Amsterdam, and they sent me to New York.

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WSJ: What was that like?

DK: I lived in an apartment for models in the Meatpacking District, which back then was a place filled with all sorts of people that you couldn’t even look in the eye. I wasn’t booking jobs, and I was very lonely. There’s a Dutch saying that my mother had always told me: “You’re not made out of salt,” so being tough and very disciplined helped. The success that people see now took a long time to achieve.

WSJ: What would you say was the turning point of your career?

DK: My 2005 cover shoot with Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue. When that issue came out, everything changed. All of a sudden everyone wanted to work with me. Meisel is the godfather of fashion and photography. It opened up my eyes to how the industry works—it’s very important to do editorial. And then signing as a Victoria’s Secret angel opened so many doors.

WSJ: You recently walked in your eighth Victoria’s Secret show, soon after the birth of your daughter. Did you feel pressure to get back into shape quickly?

DK: Yes, but I had had a good experience with my first child, so I knew it would be OK. I work out, and I’m always conscious about what I put in my body—not for looks, but because I want to be healthy. I do a workout called Ballet Beautiful with [trainer] Mary Helen Bowers three times a week, and every day right before a show. It’s changed my body, and you don’t even sweat during the workout. Who wouldn’t want that?

WSJ: You and your husband both travel frequently. How do you balance everything?

DK: A lot of communication. Our agents are on the phone every other day. They’re the ones who keep us together.

WSJ: You also travel as a spokesperson for the charity Dance4Life.

DK: Yes, I’ve been all over the world with them. They teach young people how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS in a positive way, through dance and music. I was in Tanzania, for example, and I hugged a young boy with HIV. Over there it’s a big deal to even talk to people who are infected. I realized it’s amazing what a small gesture can do.

WSJ: Do you have a plan for the next 10 years?

DK: I have no idea! Ten years ago, I had no idea I’d be here. Maybe I’ll do movies—I dream of working with particular directors—or maybe I’ll just live someplace quiet where I can grow my own vegetables.