Growing a big social media following seems to be the breakthrough strategy for models these days, however, supermodel Anna Ewers thinks different and opens up about it.
The 23-year-old German model has graced nine Vogue covers and many glossy editorials, has walked the most acclaimed fashion shows, appeared on the Pirelli 2015 calendar and was voted Model of the Year by industry experts over Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, who together have 67m Instagram followers. On the side, Ewers has 160,000, proving that old school is still cool.
“I’m very lucky. I’m not too exposed to social media and is going quite well for me. I like to have my privacy,” she told The Independent.
“Yes, I think there is pressure [to share your work with followers] but I don’t do it and it works for me.”
Born in Freiburg, Germany she was discovered by designer Alexander Wang (the urban chic luxe label she continues to work for) at the age of 19 and walked her first-ever catwalk for Balenciaga’s autumn/winter 2013 show, kicking off a promising modelling career.
You would recognise her on billboards. She’s frequently compared with Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Schiffer, and she sorts of agrees.
“If I put makeup on and take pictures, then yes I look like her [Bardot]. But I’m very honoured to be compared with her,” she said. However, she thinks that without the production she looks “cleaner and androgynous” as she once told Harpers Bazaar.
Saying this, she praises the current gender fluid and plus-size movement in the industry. “I think it’s great. It’s great to have a little bit more diversity,” she told The Independent. And would even happily pose for a menswear shoot just like Jaden Smith did for Louis Vuitton’s womenswear campaign. “Yes, of course. Why not.”
As one of the young cool kids of the fashion block, her style combines streetwear with high fashion (very Wang), reason why she’s the new face of online retailer Zalando’s spring/summer 2016 campaign, #ZalandoxSport, which has curated activewear and fashion from a wide variety of labels, both designer and high-street, featuring the new crossover of brands.
Wearing an Adidas Originals sweater, Ewers celebrates the trend mainly because “it's comfortable”. “It’s nice and great.”
In the campaign, she appears in an energetic setup, alongside renowned dancers Lil Phoenix and iDance Mikey.
“We are witnessing a big shift in fashion, with sport weaving itself into fashion. Together with campaign director Gordon von Steiner we tried to capture the fun of fashion meeting sport. The campaign shows active styles that embrace all aspects of daily life, activities and interests,’’ explains Carsten Hendrich, VP Brand Marketing of Zalando.
Ewers, who describes her personal style as casual, tomboyish and effortless, has picked a bold sweater she wears in the campaign as her favourite piece. “I was wearing this colourful sweater, I really like that… I also liked the little black dress and the leather jacket.”
She’s also admitted her fashion icon is London’s Kate Moss, and we can picture her sporting all these pieces while probably describing her style quite similarly. Plus, Ewers identifies herself with her as Moss isn’t a social media star either. “She's never given a lot of interviews. She stays so mysterious. Nobody knows who she is, really.”
A city: Freiburg [her hometown]
A season: Summer
A book: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (which she referred to in Spanish, a language she learned it when living in Colombia at the age of 16).
A colour: black
A designer: Alexander Wang
A garment: bathrobe
A lips colour: nude
Zalando’s spring/summer 2016 pieces are now available online at www.zalando.co.uk.
