Interview With A Model

Think modelling is a young girl’s game? Think again. Meet Zvončica Vučković, one of Croatia’s top models and a featured face in the new Sahara flash campaign.

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Meeting Zvona, you are immediately struck by her poise and charisma. With her trademark grey hair and over forty years of modelling experience behind her, she exudes style and self-confidence. Whilst shooting our latest campaign in London, we caught up with the model to find out more about her life and career.

GRACE: You’ve led a very interesting life and spent time in many different places around the world – tell us a little about how you’ve got to where you are today.

                Zvončica: I was just 16 when I first left Yugoslavia (as it was known), hoping to find a better life and make a career as a model. I travelled – first to Paris, then to Italy where I lived for a time in Rome, Florence and Milan. However, America was the real dream – all my life I had wanted to live in New York, but I couldn’t get a VISA to live in the US. Instead, I moved to Montreal for five years during the 1980s, before finally making it to New York in 1987. Five years later, I moved back to Florence, where I stayed until about four years ago when I returned to my home town, Zagreb.

G: How did you get involved in modelling?

                Z: When I was young, I trained to be a dancer. I had finished Ballet School and was dancing at the National Theatre of Zagreb, but there was one problem – my height. At age 14, I had suddenly grown too tall to dance with boys who were much, much, smaller than me. Instead of being disappointed, I decided that my height was an asset. I would use it for another career – I would become a runway and photographic model!

G: You also attended university – what did you study?

                Z: In my country, all young people study at university, or at least finish high school. I studied Foreign Trade, and graduated as an Economist.

G: Outside of modelling, how do you spend your time?

                Z: I enjoy all kinds of sports, but my true love is for horses. I have my own horse, and for many years I used to compete in horseback riding competitions. More recently, I have spent time working as a Hippotherapy instructor for disabled kids. I also love to cook! I am always baking cakes – for family, for friends, and for wedding ceremonies and other big events. Of course, I also love to spend time with my grandson, and am very excited to have another grandchild on the way.

G: What stands out as a funny or memorable moment within your career?

                Z: It is impossible to choose! For me, every fashion show with Moschino was a special story. Funniest moment? I was recently in Italy to shoot for a major magazine. As I waited for everyone to gather, one girl asked me if I was the make-up artist. I told her, No. ‘Okay, you must be the hair girl,’ she said. Again, No. Stylist? Photographer? She went on. Each time – No! As she was running out of people I could possibly be, the production manager came and greeted me with joy, showing me which clothes and shoes I would be wearing. The girl was shocked and embarrassed when she realised that I was the model!

G: What is the one thing you would pass on to our Sahara ladies?

                Z: There is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt – “No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”