by MARCELA JACOBINA, with styling by ROGERIO S. and photography by ROMULO SOARES

19 year old native Nadine Ponce is not your typical small town model. Half Brazilian, half German, the new face superstar spent her childhood crossing the busy streets of São Paulo, climbing tress in Hamburg and the skiing in Zurich. After graduating high-school in Switzerland and adding two solid Brazilian show seasons to her portfolio, Nadine was ready for her international début. Taking fashion directors by storm, the brunette beauty landed an exclusive deal with Prada and was everywhere from Christopher Kane’s fittings to Dolce & Gabbana’s make up chair and the runways of industry giants such as McQueen, Miu Miu, Chanel and YSL. We caught up with Ponce as she made a quick working trip to her native São Paulo.

Hey Nadine! Thank you for sitting down with us. First of all, U+MAG readers want to know how you began your career.

Hey U+MAG! OK, so when I first moved to Switzerland I was very bored. I thought of contacting an agency to see what could happen, but since I was still in school at the time so I didn’t get to do much. The turning point happened a few years later, when I contacted my current agent, who is an old friend of my family, just asking for advice and stuff. He signed me right away with Alpha Group and here I am!

And did you have any interest in fashion before all this happened?

I had never thought of being a model before, but I’ve always liked the idea of being in front of the camera. I don’t think I was interested in fashion as much as I just really liked to process of dressing up and wearing costumes. I remember I loved to go through my grandma’s closet and I would spend hour trying everything on and creating characters and stories in my head. My dream, actually, was to be a doctor. I wanted to work at the hospital with my granddad, who is a anaesthetist. Then, I decided I wanted to be a vet because I love animals so much. But I don’t think that would’ve worked out. I feel that working with patients demands a more distant and colder personality, otherwise you get too involved in the cases and it can all become really painful. I also considered studying law, because I like helping people. But I also have a good relationship with the arts. I love drawing, painting, I play the piano… I love to explore my imagination. You should’ve seen me in in school during classes, I was always far far away.

Speaking of far far away, tell us about your amazing international season.

I had so much fun! I met so many amazing people, from stylists to photographers, make up artists and fellow models… I love fashion weeks. I will never forget sitting in front of Russel Marsh’s (casting director for Prada) door in London waiting for the casting to begin while a huge line of girls just got longer and longer behind me. Or being sick backstage at Acne and running to the bathroom! One of the assistants was kind enough to help me holding my hair (laughs). Also trying not to have a heart attack backstage at Prada with some of the other new girls who had made it to the final casting! I had been up until 4am the night before with the beauty team while they discussed the hair for the show. I also loved walking my second runway show for Prada a few months later in Tokyo. This time, we were all relaxed and excited. I caught everything on camera!

And what did you do in London, Milan and Paris when you were off-duty?
I have a lot of friends in London, and one of them introduced me to THE BOX, one f the most famous clubs in town. It’s a very bizarre place, but in a good way. It became one of my favorite places in London. In Paris, I spent most of the time alone. I went to the Louvre, Galeries Lafayette for a little shopping spree (I had to, it was on SALE!), I went to the movies. I also did a bus tour and a boat tour around the city. And I became a fan of this little restaurant with a cute waiter called Francoise (laughs).