Wednesday

Bonne van der Ree

4483

Nationality: Dutch

Profession: Fashion Model, jewellery designer and owner of label

wristribbonbeadedstack1-21

Agencies: Paparazzi Model management (Amsterdam), New (Belgium), M4 (Germany)

Milestones: modelling wise: First Victor & Rolf show in Paris. Jewellery wise: Opening Studio BonBon in Amsterdam, studio and showroom of BonBon Boutique. Life wise: Sitting high on the Chinese wall in complete silence, no bird sounds, no trees rustling, just complete and utter silence…

Current location: Amsterdam

How did you start modelling? I was casted with my blue hair and tons of piercings for a Levi’s shoot when I was 17. A few years later I lost the metal and found an agency in Amsterdam.

What does your career do for you? My modelling career gave me the time, space and challenges to grow as a person, to sort my baggage and drop what I didn’t need. It also gave me a vast network in the fashion industry which comes in handy now with my own jewellery label.

What’s your most memorable shoot? I still enjoy thinking back on a shoot I did a few years ago in Lebanon. The contrast you see in Beirut between the posh shopping areas and the buildings riddled with bullet holes across the street are a very surreal site. Such friendly people and such beautiful countryside too!

What do you think SHORTLISTiD can do for the model community?

57351

Who do you admire and would you like to meet? I admire my friends around me most of all. There’s something extraordinary in all of them. Luckily most of them I get to see on a weekly basis.

What’s your favourite book/film/music? I usually have more than just one book going at the same time. Something relaxing, like a mystery to clear my head, something educational on holistic healing or nutrition, something spiritual or short stories.

What’s your beauty regime? My motto here is: Less is more. I only use natural organic products like Dr. Hauschka and Weleda. I have extremely sensitive skin and most synthetic products are just too harsh. And of course laughter plays a big part in looking good! It releases all sorts of positive-feeling hormones in your body which make you look radiant.

What are your favourite hang out spots in the city you live (current location)? Right this minute my favourite spot is where I’m at now: on a dike along the water of NDSM wharf in North-Amsterdam.

What is your favourite city and where do you like to hang out there? The city that made the biggest impression on me is Tokyo, because it was quite a culture shock. Yoyogi Park on a Sunday

afternoon is the best to spot all the typical harajuku ‘freaks’. They all come together there to hang out. My favourite city to live was Sydney: beautiful weather, fantastic scenery. Tamarama beach was my favourite spot, just don’t swim there: it has one of the strongest rip-tides of Australia; you’ll get sucked out to sea in a second…

Do you have any advice for those who want to start modelling? It’s not easy to give advice, because every person is different, I guess you go with the flow and don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right. Hang out with people you feel good with.

What are your future plans? I never plan too much, I go with the flow…In the coming years my jewellery label will steadily grow to an extend that I’ll be able to work with my own team of people and focus mainly on designing.

 Elly van Zutphen