After walking in her first fashion show in Windhoek in 2016, top Namibian model Johanna Swartbooi is heading to Europe and the USA to strut her stuff on the catwalks of the fashion capitals of the world
Swartbooi was handpicked by three international agencies; one in Milan (Italy), one in Hamburg (Germany) and another in Los Angeles (USA) through her current model agency, The Circle, a South African model management agency.
She will leave Namibia in the next few days to take up her exciting posting in Europe, where she will also be doing editorial shoots and other commercial campaigns.
Swartbooi looks forward to “testing the waters”.
“I’m excited to go and work, and see what I’m going to be exposed to as well as the growth I will get, and the type of change this will have on me and my evolution as a model and as Johanna. I can’t wait to explore the different cities too,” she told VIBEZ!
Miss Namibia 2019
All this excitement in Swartbooi’s life at the moment comes as a result of her participation in the Miss Namibia 2019 competition. Having ended as the second runner-up, Swartbooi was not too sad about it as just one week later, the Cape Town-based The Circle model agency called to say they saw her in the pageant, are interested in signing her and, as they say, the rest is history. She recently renewed the contract with them for another two years.
“In 2019, my goal was to move to Cape Town and do modelling there. But Miss Namibia just came along the way and aided my goal. I was so happy that I did not win in 2019 because the perks and cash prizes helped my Cape Town journey. Had I won the pageant that year, I would not have been allowed to do anything else other than Miss Namibia duties,” she said with a smile.
Swartbooi further paid tribute to the Miss Namibia pageant, saying that it was during her journey in the competition that she learned how to celebrate and capitalise on being Namibian, and being a proud girl from Vaalgras, //Kharas region.
International Move
The lanky model moved to Cape Town in September that year, and was there for only six months when Covid-19 shut all activities down, which forced her back home for about a year. But she did not sit hands folded, and did the Bokomo ad, the Windhoek Fashion Week as well as started making unisex accessories and apparel.
Describing her international move as “exciting and a whole big adventure”, the 25-year-old Swartbooi paid homage to her aunt Emilie Stephanus, also a model and director at Fashion Week, who inspired and coached her into a career of modelling.
Because the competition is high for modelling gigs, the beautiful Swartbooi with her fair skin and high cheekbones upped her game, and did an acting course to improve her skill level. Just one month after that course, she did a television commercial for famous fast-food giant McDonalds.
FOMO
With her flying out soon, the second-year business administration degree student at Stadio Namibia said she feels a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) for having to miss out on this year’s Windhoek Fashion Week, as it is one thing that brings the most joy to her heart.
“I take so much pride in being part of Fashion Week, but I have to give the new kids a chance; it can’t only be me,” said Swartbooi, who has been part of every Windhoek Fashion Week since its start in 2016.
Also seen in several Spec-Savers ads, she noted that it’s always nice when people who know her see her photos in the shops and send them to her.
Asked about what excites her more: runway, editorial or commercials, she said without hesitation… runway!
“It’s my first love, and the rush of being a part of Fashion Week’s backstage drama is thrilling.
It’s always fun, and the relationships and bonds we form as models is always a lovely experience.”
But the eloquent Swartbooi is learning to love doing commercials too, saying: “I never really took myself seriously as an actress, but now that I have the opportunity to go to LA, I’m more open-minded about that because as someone who works in the entertainment and fashion industries, you need to be multifaceted.”
‡Nu/Gôa and Tita Xa
Up for any challenge, Swartbooi, who is also a jewellery maker through her brand ‡Nu/Gôa Accessories and Apparel, also runs a Podcast called ‘Tita Xa’ (Khoekhoegowab for about me), which is an Instagram live series that she started last year.
‡Nu/Gôa means black child.
“Tita Xa is more like an aid for me to practise my interview skills and also practise my people skills. Due to lockdown and not doing anything, this was the perfect way to reintroduce me to society and the industry again. The series helped to get me re-inspired.”
She said the series has been great thus far, and she has had great guests, one of whom described a session with her as therapeutic, and that’s exactly how she wants her guests to feel. “It’s s reflective space for my guests and as they are reflecting, I’m learning from them and I get inspired by that.”
Swartbooi, who is part of a handful of Namibians modelling abroad, is planning a modelling crash course over two days for early next year.
“It’s a skills transfer platform to convey everything I have learned over the years. Aspiring models need to know everything, including negative aspects such as that it is just not all glamour. It’s genuine work that needs to be put in, and it requires having to work long hours. They need to know what they get themselves into.”
- slunyangwe@nepc.com.na