Behati Prinsloo ( , ; born 16 May 1988) is a Namibian model. In 2008, she became a

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

contract model, and moved on to become a

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 ...

Angel in 2009. She walked in ten

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was an annual promotional event sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie. From 1995 to 2018, Victoria's Secret used the show to market its goods in high-profile settings. Models unde ...

s (2007–2015; 2018), and opened consecutive Victoria's Secret Fashion shows in 2014 and 2015.

Early life

Prinsloo was born in Grootfontein,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, then part of South West Africa. She is the only child of father Boet Prinsloo, who is a

church minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidan ...

. Her mother, Magda (née Rossouw), runs a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

. Her family are

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

and she grew up speaking

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

as her native language, although she was later educated in English. She attended Grootfontein Secondary School and left after Grade 9 to pursue modelling. Her modelling career began when she was discovered while vacationing in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

with her grandparents. "We went to the grocery store after church and this guy came up to me and asked if I was a model and wrote his number on a piece of paper...".

Career

Prinsloo debuted as a Prada/Miu Miu Exclusive. Soon after, Juergen Teller photographed her for her debut ad campaign, Marc by

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was ...

, and she soon was photographed by Mario Testino and

Paolo Roversi Paolo Roversi (born 1947) is an Italian-born fashion photographer who lives and works in Paris. Early life Born in Ravenna in 1947, Paolo Roversi's interest in photography was kindled as a teenager during a family vacation in Spain in 1964. Ba ...

for '' British Vogue'' and

David Sims David Sims is the name of: *David Sims (running back) (born 1955), former American football running back with the Seattle Seahawks * David Sims (safety) (born 1986), American football safety for the Indianapolis Colts *Dave Sims (born 1953), Seattl ...

for '' W Magazine''. Behati Prinsloo - GEORGES CHAKRA 2010 04

Prinsloo has walked in fashion shows for Alexander Wang,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

, Miu Miu,

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

, and other brands. She has been on the covers of ''Vogue Spain'', ''Vogue Turkey'', ''Vogue Brasil'', ''Vogue Mexico'', ''Vogue Russia'', ''Vogue Thailand'', ''Elle France'', ''Elle Spain'', ''Elle Italia'', ''Elle Sweden'', ''

L'Officiel ''L'Officiel'' () is a French fashion magazine with a USA edition. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged from 25 to 49. In 2006, it had a circulation of 101,719. A men's edition of ''L'Officiel'', ' ...

Netherlands'', ''Marie Claire Greece'', ''Marie Claire South Africa'', ''

i-D Magazine ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue'' art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the for ...

'', '' V Magazine'', '' Russh Magazine'', '' 10 Magazine'', ''The Edit'', ''Jalouse'', and ''So It Goes Magazine''. Her ad campaigns include I Love Juicy Couture Fragrance, I Am Juicy Couture Fragrance, Juicy Couture Black Label, Tommy Hilfiger, Alexander Wang 'Do Something', T by Alexander Wang, Marc by Marc Jacobs, H&M, Nina Ricci, The Gap,

Aquascutum Aquascutum was a British-based luxury goods, luxury clothing manufacturer and retailer. It is currently owned by Shandong Ruyi. History Aquascutum was established in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, when tailor and entrepreneur John Emar ...

, M Missoni, Sportmax,

DKNY Jeans DKNY is a New York City–based fashion house for men and women, founded in 1984 by Donna Karan. History Karan worked for 15 years at Anne Klein, including 10 as its head designer. In 1984 Karan and her late husband Stephan Weiss were offered t ...

, Pepe Jeans, Lancaster, Stefanel,

Esprit Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to: * the French for Spirit; as a loanword: ** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation ** Morale, motivation and readiness ** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect" * Esprit (name), a given name and surname * ''Esprit'' (m ...

Lacoste Lacoste S.A. is a French company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur Mangkha. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The company can be recognised by its ...

Desigual Desigual (); Catalan: ); meaning "unequal, uneven") is a Spanish fashion label. The company was founded by Thomas Meyer in 1984, and is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. It has a presence in 109 countries, with different distribution channels a ...

, Seafolly,

Nine West Nine West, also known as 9 West, is an American online fashion retailer which is based in White Plains, New York. It was founded in 1983 and closed its brick and mortar stores business in 2018. Its products continue to be sold at other reta ...

, and Raw Spirit Fragrance. In 2010, Prinsloo designed "Behati Loves Pink" swimsuit capsule collection for Victoria's Secret. In 2014, she designed a line of denim for THVM. Most recently, she designed a fashion and accessories collection for Juicy Couture. Models.com ranks Prinsloo on their lists of 'The Top Sexiest Models' as well as their list of 'The Money Girls'. The night before the 4 December 2012 airing of the annual

, Prinsloo and fellow Victoria's Secret models Jacquelyn Jablonski and Jasmine Tookes guest starred on the 3 December "Ha'awe Make Loa" episode of CBS' '' Hawaii Five-0'' playing themselves. In June 2014, Prinsloo made a cameo appearance in a preview of

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

protégée Sharaya J's "Shut It Down" via a ''T by Alexander Wang'' campaign. Prinsloo appeared in various music videos such as The Virgins' " Rich Girls" and

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's "

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

", "

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

", and "

Girls Like You "Girls Like You" is a song recorded by American band Maroon 5 from their sixth studio album ''Red Pill Blues'' (2017). The track was written by lead singer Adam Levine, Starrah, Gian Stone, Cirkut, and Jason Evigan, with the latter two serving ...

". After taking a two-year hiatus from the Victoria's Secret Fashion show, Prinsloo returned to walk in the brand's 2018 show. Prinsloo was among the models and celebrities who made appearances modeling lingerie at

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to th ...

's '' Savage x Fenty Vol. 3'' fashion show in 2021.

Philanthropy

Prinsloo embarked on a charitable trip following the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...

. Partnering with LakayPam, an organization dedicated to helping children in developing nations meet their basic needs, she collected and delivered hundreds of letters of hope from all over the world and helped raise funds. She was accompanied by a cameraman and his friend, and the resulting short film, ''Letters to Haiti'', debuted 7 December 2011 at Milk Gallery in New York. She also supports organizations trying to protect the

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

, a critically endangered species native to Namibia and other countries in Southern Africa.

Personal life

In 2012, Prinsloo began dating American musician

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

of the group

; they married in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

in 2014. They have two daughters: Dusty Rose (born September 2016) and Gio Grace (born February 2018). As of September 2022, Prinsloo is pregnant with the couple's third child. She is close friends with fellow models

Candice Swanepoel Candice Susan Swanepoel (; ; born 20 October 1988) is a South African model and philanthropist. She is known for her work with Victoria's Secret. She became a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2010. In 2016, she was listed 8th on the ''Forbes'' top-ea ...

and Lily Aldridge. Prinsloo appeared in the 2018 Maroon 5 video "

," along with husband Levine, their daughter Dusty Rose and more than two dozen women celebrities (including

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

, Mary J. Blige,

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine (service), Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, ...

, Gal Gadot, Ellen DeGeneres, Tiffany Haddish, Lilly Singh and more). In 2021, Levine and Prinsloo founded Calirosa, a line of California red wine

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

-aged

tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

Filmography

Music videos

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prinsloo, Behati 1988 births Living people Namibian female models White Namibian people Namibian Afrikaner people Namibian activists People from Grootfontein People from Vanderbijlpark Prada exclusive models Namibian people of Dutch descent Namibian expatriates in the United States Namibian expatriates in the United Kingdom Namibian expatriates in South Africa Victoria's Secret Angels Women Management models