By Erik Pulles a.k.a. Mr-Dale

As a Dutchman myself, I have often said that in terms of modelling, Holland is the next Brazil. But I have come to realise that there is no next Brazil. Brazil is Brazil and Holland is Holland. The Netherlands have been suppliers of succesful models for decades now. So the small country doesn’t need to be called the next Brazil.

The Dutch model market resides in Amsterdam where all of our finest are gathered in topnotch agencies with great contacts around the globe. And boy, has the globe been interested in the Dutch. During the supermodel era, Holland was represented by the legendary Karen Mulder, who graced an uncountable amount of covers.

She was among the first batch of Victoria’s Secret Angels. On into the new millennium, lots of Dutch faces have appeared on the greatest of runways, the most major of magazines and in the hautest of haute campaigns. So what is it that makes the Dutch models so succesful and wanted in the industry?

 
Karen Mulder at the peak of her career

The answer is quite simple: they are willing to work very hard.

Holland is a country built upon agriculture. That history makes the willingness to work hard flow through the blood of every Dutch person. Struggling with the sea and surviving many floods has given the Dutch people the lifemotto of Luctor et Emergo: I struggle and I emerge. Strict schoollaws and parents of morality make it hard to quit school before your 18th. So when the girls do hit the fashion scene, they are strong and wise enough to survive.