Caroline Trentini

Blonder than a Swede, cuter than the Erin Fetherston nymphs, Caroline Trentini possesses a Scandinavian beauty while being 100% Brazilian. After 8 years in the business, this slender and feline model has stopped counting the number of Vogue U.S. covers she has done and has finally become an "it" girl.

The high point in the life of this young top model was not walking for Dior nor jumping from one airplane to another in the same day, but leaving her little native southern Brazilian village behind her for the effervescence of Sao Paulo. Trentini comes from an isolated region, far from the dazzling lights of the capital. Her childhood was overshadowed by the loss of her father and the sacrifices of her mother to make ends meet.

Her destiny was overturned when she was only 13. While walking with her sisters, she was spotted by the agent who had discovered Gisele Bündchen and was told that she should come to work in Sao Paulo. Her mother accepted and the young Trentini took off for a completely unknown world.

At first, she was submerged by the hyperactive energy of the city. She was used to the secure calm of a small country town and was disoriented in the turbulent lifestyle she found in Sao Paulo. She became accustomed to it, however, and one year later (when she was 14) her agency, confirming her prognosis of a future top model, sent her to the Mecca of apprentice models, New York. She did not speak English, but did manage to learn the basics relatively quickly.

In the career of any top model, there is a release mechanism, a wave of a magic wand that allows her to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Trentini's genie in the bottle was Marc Jacobs. Won over by the juvenile yet glamorous beauty of the adolescent, he decided that she would be the face of his next Marc By Marc Jacobs campaign. She was photographed by Juergen Teller and became a "one-to-watch".

In 2004 when she was 16, she opened for Emmanuel Ungaro Haute Couture; few weeks later, she opened and closed for Christian Lacroix. Both were signs that she was to have a radiant future in the business.

As a young model, Trentini did what she was told and trusted the professionals around her. She said nothing when during a shoot with the photographer Steven Klein she found herself topless in a fridge full of meat - she gritted her teeth, then became vegetarian.

She continued building her career without making headlines. She was little known to the general public yet was nevertheless increasingly in demand by the fashion world. In 2005, she opened for Marc Jacobs and walked for Victoria's Secret (an obligatory stop for all American models). The following year, she moved on to ad campaigns, thus increasing her market value. She became the face of the Gucci anniversary campaign, then posed next to several top models for Balenciaga.

She even found herself in the pages of the American fashion bible, the sacristy of Anna Wintour: Vogue. Posing in an editorial for this magazine is the Holy Grail of any model because it implies the benediction of Madame Wintour herself. With this kind of support, the charming Brazilian found herself solicited by everyone.

She now had the best slots in the shows, posed for Vogue France and UK, posed for the cover of Vogue U.S. photographed by Steven Meisel, and was described as one of the new vanguard of top models. In July, Vogue came out with a list of the 45 top models and she was on it. The pace quickened again and all the magazines wanted her for their covers, as did ad campaigns for DSquared and Mulberry, and she closed for bigger and bigger shows, e.g., Dolce & Gabbana, becoming the sensation of the moment.

Her participation in the Pirelli calendar next to the recognizable top models confirmed her status. Her name and presence attracted attention and sold. She took advantage to participate in charitable activities like the "Save the future 2008" campaign organized by the Environmental Justice Foundation in association with Luella and Christian Lacroix.

For the svelte and upbeat Trentini, everything was going well and the infatuation with her seemed to be more than a flash in the pan. In 2008, she became the face of DKNY and appeared at least 4 times in different Vogue editions, including the April edition of Vogue U.S. for which she was photographed by the crème de la crème of photographers: Irving Penn, Steven Meisel, Annie Leibovitz, and Patrick Demarchelier.

Despite her ascension to stardom, Trentini has kept her feet on the ground and has not been affected by the pitfalls of show business. She prefers organizing dinners in her New York apartment (that she shares with two other top models, Cintia Dicker and Bruna Erhardt) to going out on the town. She is known for her joie de vivre and optimism, making her a perfect colleague and a model appreciated in the business. At almost 21, despite having already had a long career, Trentini seems to have many pretty seasons in front of her.