Yfke Sturm (born 19 November 1981) is a Dutch

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

Life and career

Sturm was born on 19 November 1981 in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

. She was discovered in 1997 in Almere, by an Elite Model Management scout. Shortly thereafter, she entered the Dutch Elite Model Look Contest. Winning this contest was followed by winning the 1997 International

Elite Model Look Elite Model Look (formerly known as Look of the Year from 1983 to 1995) is a yearly fashion modeling event held by Elite Model Management, an international model management group. It is used to discover and launch female fashion models in the int ...

Contest in Nice, France. Sturm was 15 years old at the time. After her win, she signed exclusive contracts with

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

and

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

. She has also modelled for

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

TV host

In 2006, Sturm became the host of ''

Holland's Next Top Model ''Holland's Next Top Model'' (often abbreviated as HNTM and previously subtitled ''Modelmasters: Holland's Next Top Model'' from 2006 to 2007, signifying the show's partnership with the agency) is a Dutch reality television series, produced by ...

'', the Dutch version of ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'', which is shown on prime-time TV and is popular. After the second season of HNTM, she decided to focus on her career as a model, as it was difficult to combine the TV work with her successful modeling career. In 2011 she made a guest appearance on ''Holland's Next Top Model''. In December 2016 she started working for Fox Netherlands as a presenter, starting with the ''

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2016 The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings. The show features some of the world's leading fashion models, suc ...

'', where she took backstage interviews.

''Yfke's Model Secrets''

Sturm is the co-author of the 2009 book ''Yfke's Model Secrets''. It includes tips about exercise and diet and stories about the modeling industry.

Private life

Sturm was married to businessman Imad Izemrane from 2007 to 2010, when the couple divorced. She previously lived in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and later moved to London. In 2015 she had a son. In September 2015 Sturm was seriously injured when she fell off a surf jet off the island of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

and was sailed over by a boat. She was airlifted to the nearest hospital with a fractured skull and spinal fractures, and was placed in a medically induced coma.

Bibliography

* (2009) ''Yfke's Model Secrets'' with Martĳn van Stuyvenberg

References

External links

Yfke Sturm
official website * *
Profile
at IMG Models {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Yfke 1981 births Dutch female models Living people People from Almere