Marpessa Hennink

Early life

Hennink was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese father of partial black African ancestry. She was raised by her mother, who happened to be a hippie.

From as young as the age of four, Hennink expressed an interest in modeling, though she did not begin working as a model until she turned sixteen, after having been discovered by a magazine editor in her native Amsterdam. This happened despite being rejected by the Eileen Ford agency during a casting call.

Career

Among the first fashion designers that Hennink modeled for were Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto. She credited the late fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez with recommending her to some of the prominent designers, such as Azzedine Alaia, and Karl Lagerfeld of the fashion house Chanel. Most notably, Hennink walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana's first fashion show in 1985, at the beginning of their career as designers. The same year, she appeared in the music video for Bryan Ferry's song, "Slave to Love", directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.

Hennink went on to walk the runway for many other designers including Versace, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, Christian Dior, Gianfranco Ferré, Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake, Moschino, Claude Montana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Comme des Garçons, Lanvin, Thierry Mugler, Donna Karan, Trussardi, Mila Schön, Rifat Özbek, Bruce Oldfield, Ted Lapidus, and Betty Jackson. She was given the nickname "the Catwalk Contessa".

In 1987, Hennink was chosen by Dolce & Gabbana to star in the advertising campaign for their Fall/Winter collection. It was the first campaign for the label, and Hennink agreed to do it for free. The campaign was photographed in Sicily by Ferdinando Scianna of Magnum Photos. The photographs from the campaign made such an impression that Hennink came to be seen as an icon of Mediterranean femininity.

In October of that year, Hennink was named "Model of the Year". She was sometimes paired with model Veronica Webb in fashion shows and in magazine photo spreads. Some of the magazines that Hennink has been featured in include various international editions of Vogue, as well as other publications such as Elle, Glamour, Time, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, L'Officiel, and Photo.

In 1993, Hennink retired from modeling, having been put off by the arrival of the grunge fashion trend. Upon her retirement, she moved to Ibiza, Spain, where she began a career as an interior decorator. She made a return to the fashion runways in 2004, where she closed the Fall/Winter show for designer Antonio Marras. In January 2011, Hennink was chosen to walk in a special fashion show held by designer Alberta Ferretti in Florence, Italy. Then, in May 2011, she walked in the "Fashion for Relief" benefit show in Cannes, France. The following year, Dolce & Gabbana launched a line of made-to-measure clothing called "Alta Moda", and chose Hennink as the global ambassador for that line.

Personal life

Hennink speaks six languages. In her spare time, she enjoys photography. She considers Inès de La Fressange, Diana Vreeland, and Madeleine Castaing as her style icons. In 2005, Hennink gave birth to a daughter.