About
Doutzen Kroes is a Dutch supermodel and occasional actor born on 23 January 1985 in the small Frisian village of Eastermar. She shot to global fame as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, walking the brand’s shows from 2005 and joining the official Angel roster in 2008. After stepping away in 2014, she returned to the runway in October 2024, relishing the chance to celebrate beauty at 39 alongside fellow veterans such as Adriana Lima and Tyra Banks. Her long-running beauty contract with L’Oréal Paris and high-profile campaigns for Calvin Klein, Tiffany & Co., and others have kept her in demand, while Forbes ranked her the world’s second-highest-paid model in 2014.
Before Fame
Kroes grew up juggling muddy bike rides and ice-skating races in Friesland. Her father, Johan Kroes, worked as a psychotherapist, and her mother, Geartsje Leistra, was a nurse and former champion speed skater, so sport came naturally at home. Despite the athletic atmosphere, she dreamed more about adventures than catwalks; friends often recall her as a self-described tomboy. At 18 she mailed a handful of holiday snapshots to Paparazzi Model Management in Amsterdam. Within weeks she was on planes to New York and Milan, quickly learning English on the fly while hiding nerves behind a big Frisian grin.
Trivia
- Blockbuster cameo: In 2017 she swapped stilettos for a sword to play Venelia, one of Wonder Woman’s Amazon warriors. Kroes trained in horseback riding and combat for the part and performed many of her own stunts, calling the experience “empowering.”
- Forbes favorite: Thanks to lucrative contracts and runway work, she earned about $8 million in 2014, second only to Gisele Bündchen that year.
- Language love: At home she still chats in Frisian, the minority language of the northern Netherlands, and encourages her children to answer back in it.
- Wax-museum status: Madame Tussauds Amsterdam immortalised her with a life-size figure—a reminder that she once balanced six campaigns at once in her mid-twenties.
- Unflappable on the catwalk: During her 2024 Victoria’s Secret return her heel snagged a crack in the stage. She simply freed it, smoothed her skirt, and carried on to cheers.
- Philanthropy and controversy: Kroes has long championed Dance4Life, a charity that uses dance to educate teens about HIV/AIDS. Conversely, she stirred debate in 2021 when she posted on Instagram that she would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine, arguing for bodily autonomy—an opinion that drew both praise and backlash from peers.
Family Life
Doutzen wed Dutch-Surinamese DJ and music producer Sunnery James Gorré on 7 November 2010 in an intimate ceremony in Eastermar attended by close relatives only. The pair share two children: son Phyllon Joy, born 21 January 2011 in Amsterdam, and daughter Myllena Mae, born 30 July 2014. Kroes often writes that motherhood re-shaped her priorities, prompting her 2014 exit from full-time Angel duties so she could spend school-night dinners at home. Her younger sister, Rens Kroes, is a nutritionist and cookbook author; the siblings swap healthy-recipe ideas and Frisian sayings during video calls.
Associated With
On the runway Kroes has often shared the spotlight with fellow Angels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Candice Swanepoel. She and Lima tied for second place on Forbes’ 2014 earnings list, underscoring the brand power that Victoria’s Secret alumni held in that era. Outside fashion, she teamed with Gal Gadot and Robin Wright in Wonder Woman, bonding over grueling stunt rehearsals. Her charity work puts her alongside fellow Dutch changemakers at One Young World, while photographer Lachlan Bailey’s recurring shoots, including Vogue Netherlands’ 2024 cover story, highlight her enduring connection to high-gloss editorial photography.
