Former top model, now a famous influencer Danijela Dimitrovska during her modeling career, she had the opportunity to collaborate with numerous world designers and brands, among them Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Stella McCartney, Anne Fontaine, "Hugo Boss", "Dior", "Chanel", "Kenzo", "Valentino", "Moschino", "Givenchy", "Louis Vuitton", "YSL".
During her career, Danijela had the opportunity to be part of campaigns George Armani and Adidas, and her face graced the covers of "Marie Claire", "Elle", "Vogue" and "Glamoura" magazines.
With a French actor Vincent Cassel, ex-husband Monica Bellucci, she had the opportunity to shoot a television commercial for the men's perfume "Yves Saint Loren", one of the promotional models of Victoria's Secret, and she also tried her hand at the film, getting a role in the production "In the night".
She was recently promoted as the face of the Montenegrin capital of tourism - Budva.
"Regardless of the fact that I have been in business for 20 years now, I have a really large number of clients behind me, both international and our own, every time I contract a new job, somehow I work with even more excitement. This is definitely a slightly different engagement compared to everything I've done before, I've just never been the face of a city," she says in an interview with Magazin Danijela.
Even as a ten-year-old, she knew what she wanted to do and that she wanted to build her career on the runway and in front of the cameras. With the victory in 2004 at the Elite Model Look competition, which was held in Serbia, she officially started her career as a model. This was followed by a fashion show in Milan for the fashion house "Gucci", after which she went to the World Competition in Shanghai, where she then represented Serbia and Montenegro.
"During my career I've photographed for a big campaign in Great Britain for the Olympics, so it's somewhat an integral part of my job. However, this is different and more specific. Since my early childhood, I spent every summer in Montenegro. I have many friends who are from Budva, so I am glad that I established this cooperation. I couldn't wait to come to Budva and the other places that belong to it. Simply, that part of Montenegro, I can freely say, is the most beautiful and I feel at home there," says Dimitrovska honestly.
Cooperation with the interviewee of the magazine was agreed for the year 2023 and will include year-round promotion of all segments of the tourist offer of the Budva Riviera through photo and video material shot in Budva. It will be posted on her Instagram and Tik-Tok social media accounts.
"The goal is really to show all the advantages beyond those that tourists can see during the summer. So, Budva and that part of the coast have a handful of sights and attractions that can be seen throughout the year. My goal and the goal of my team is to present and show Budva to people in a slightly different way, to instruct them that they can come for extended weekends", Danijela points out, and singles out many events, including the upcoming carnivals that take place during the spring, more precisely from April 28 to May 2.
"There are also festivals during the summer, as well as the traditional New Year's Eve, for which Budva is recognizable, and there are also many beautiful museums and monasteries. Not to mention the kitchen and all those wonderful dishes that they can try in fantastic restaurants. So the goal is to show Budva and the Budva Riviera in the light they deserve", Danijela promises, and reveals which places in the Montenegrin capital of tourism she likes the most and recommends to society and family to visit:
” The first place I always visit in Budva is certainly the Old Town. That magical place is the jewel of Budva and the Adriatic in general. Drinking coffee on the terrace of 'Mogrena' with the first summer sun is priceless. A walk in Miločer's park or a boat ride to the island of Sveti Nikola are also on my list of priorities, but many places in Budva, especially in June or September, are ideal for people with children or all those who want peace and a real vacation", says Danijela, who is in entered the modeling world as a teenager. He says about how he looks at the modeling call today after so many years:
"Modeling is really, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful professions for women. What I am particularly proud of is that it is the only job where women earn more than men. I hope that there will be more and more such jobs, because in that way women would be empowered. I really think that for girls, modeling is a beautiful profession where they can learn and become aware of their elegance, posture, and gain self-confidence," Dimitrovska advises and points out that modeling is a profession where a young girl can learn a lot at an early age.
"This is true not only for girls, but also for boys. Now boys are also more and more popular. As far as that job is concerned, that's what I teach the participants of my agency 'Models.Inc.-Elite Model Look', how to realize all their qualities, how to become independent in the right way, to believe in themselves. Modeling is definitely a profession that allows you to travel all over the world and get various opportunities for education and the like," she notes.
With a Montenegrin model who also made a world career Marijom Vujović and a fashion agent Mirjan Udovicic In 2010, Danijela founded an agency for models called "Models Inc. - Elite Model Look".
"I always knew that when I finished my active modeling career, I would return to Serbia and pass on my experiences that I gained and am gaining abroad. It was just a matter of time before I did. We opened the agency thirteen years ago. I thought for a long time and proposed this idea to Marija Vujović and revealed to her that I would really like our then manager Mirjana Udovićič to enter the whole story with us. When she accepted our proposal, we started the story - Mirjana and I are the owners of the 'Models.Inc.-Elite Model Look' agency, while Marija Vujović is our colleague from Montenegro", recalls Dimitrovska and does not hide that thanks to this agency realized a unique story.
"Not to flatter myself, but in this agency there are two supermodels with experience and the best fashion manager in Serbia. "Mrijana is someone who brought world fashion to us and discovered our greatest supermodels," reminds the interviewee of the Magazine.
In recent years, more and more girls are interested in modeling, however, we do not have prominent names such as Danijelino, Marije Vujović, Emine Chunmulaj. As the owner of a fashion agency, Dimitrovska reflected on what kind of girls are wanted for the runway today and how often the wishes of designers and brands change:
"You know how, there are simply some standards. Just like in professional sports, you know what it takes to be successful, so it is in modeling. There are some predispositions, but of course, it all adapts to trends. There are no longer any classical standards by which we choose girls, and what is very important is to make them aware that modeling is a job, not a pageant for Miss, and I always separate those two things, because in modeling it is not enough just to be beautiful. It's important how resourceful you are, how strong and capable you are of being separated from your family and traveling around the world, taking care of yourself, being responsible somewhere, having charisma and knowing what you want," Danijela reveals what a girl needs if she had, she would be modeling and adds:
"In addition to that physical appearance, which is certainly a prerequisite to pass the casting, a much more important factor is how much desire you have and how dedicated and disciplined you are to deal with this job in a professional manner. My goal is for the models we choose to work outside of Serbia, and for them to accept this call as a profession at that moment, and not just as a hobby. What is also very important today is that those who choose to be a model are active on social networks. It's just a trend, the literacy of the 21st century. You have to be noticed from that side as well. It is a platform that additionally introduces you to the client. I think it is very important for young people to realize that it is important, in any business they are engaged in, to develop that platform as well. You never know what you'll be doing and how much you'll need it later for that job," she advises.
World top models like Naomi Campbell who was at the height of her career in the 80s and 90s and is still active on the runway to this day. However, even though our models look good, after 30 they choose to do fashion, but in a different way. They mostly choose a designer calling or to be the owners of fashion agencies. Daniela tried to explain why this is so:
"I don't know why it is like that, I can only talk about it on my own behalf. I can't generalize things, but from what I can see Nataša Vojnović is our model, and she still works very well to this day. From time to time he even shoots a campaign. So I would not fully agree here. Of course, there are girls who want to return to Serbia, who are tied to their families and simply have the need to fulfill themselves in other things. We are a patriarchal environment, we learn from childhood that the family is primacy, that it is the basis of everything. I think that our upbringing is a little different, I think that is completely okay and beautiful. I am always in favor of choice and freedom, for a person to choose according to his feelings what he wants to do. It is important that she develops, grows, becomes aware of what she is interested in, and if she overcomes some things, why not change her job. But I say that Nataša Vojnović is an example, that she still deals with it to this day, and she is around 40, maybe more years old. It's nice to do a campaign from time to time, so we also have girls who are still in the business regardless of their age," said Danijela.
Girls enter the world of modeling very early, which, as is well known, is subject to various influences, and many later have problems with addictions. About whether it is wrong to be recruited so early for that job and how much pressure she herself sometimes suffers because of it, she reveals:
"I can only tell you that my partner Mirjana Udovicic, I and 'Models.Inc.-Elite Model Look' cooperate with the world's strongest agencies that are highly professional. So we never came into contact with any suspicious and unprofessional situations. That's why I have no experience in that regard. What I can say is that the boundaries in modeling have been pushed to begin with. Girls usually travel only when they reach the age of 17 or 18, when they become adults. So the trend when girls start modeling at the age of 14-15 has long since passed, and we were looking forward to that. For several years now, girls have been waiting for adulthood, until then they are preparing to create their portfolio, to learn to walk, to gain experience in their parent agencies, how they should take pictures, so it's all different now", claims Dimitrovska.
As someone who has been the face of everything from Vera Wang, to Benetton, to YSL and Louis Vuitton, she could afford a lot of branded cloths. However, he does not think that expensive branded things are a reflection of social status.
"As far as fashion brands are concerned, of course, while I was modeling, it was important to collaborate with big fashion houses, because it was a sign of career progression. The same goes for owning them, I've never been burdened by it, I'm simply not a slave to trends or brands. It's normal that I like to have a good bag, quality shoes and a coat, but all the rest is completely unimportant to me, I dress like the rest of the world. I buy what I like, and not a priori that some brand is attached, i.e. brand", Danijela is honest.
As someone who has had the opportunity to work with numerous world designers and brands, he particularly singles out the collaboration with Stella McCartney and the Yves Saint Laurent brand.
"We really worked with Stella on great projects, like the campaign for the Olympics, and then we also worked on the campaign for Great Britain and their team. I really like the collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent. I was photographed for the campaign they had for the perfume together with the French actor Vincent Cassel. I think that marked my career. That's why I see these two events as my two stamps".
As she is attached to her family, parents and sister, she does not hide that they had a great influence on her and that she has always had great support from them.
"I knew what I wanted to do, but without my love for fashion and modeling, nothing would have been possible. My parents are definitely my role models, my sister is a big supporter, as is my manager Mirjana Udovicič, who is still my business partner today. I learned a lot from Mirjana, even about managerial work. These are the people who helped me to form as a person", says Danijela, who is also successful as an influencer today. However, even those who have not been involved in fashion like her, often share fashion tips as influencers, advertise brands, but they can present fashion in the right way and be competitive with people like her, she says:
"I think that everyone can find their space under the sky. Influencers have their places and they know how to reach people. It is a more commercial way. I think that lately it has become quite common, so even models are expected, which is completely normal, to be active on social networks and in some way to be influencers. I think there is room for everyone, it's just important that we realize what it is that we want to do, that we be dedicated, persistent and hardworking", believes Danijela, and she has advice for all those who want to pursue modeling:
"The advice for young models, not only from the Balkans, but wherever they come from, is to be hardworking, hardworking, disciplined and to follow their desires and dreams," concludes Dimitrovska.
She wanted to be a Victoria's Secret brand angel
At one time she was also the promoter of Victoria's Secret. By the way, this fashion brand has always recruited the most popular top models in its ranks. When asked what her experience was like and whether she dreamed of maybe one day wearing a Fantasy Bra herself, she answers:
"I collaborated with Victoria's Secret on an online photo shoot for their website at that time. There was a desire to do a fashion show, but it just didn't happen. Of course, at that moment, every girl's dream was to wear their wings, but I somehow established cooperation, participated in their campaign, and that experience was a very nice one. After that, I went in a different direction, I wanted to realize myself in the role of a manager, and my path completely separated from that active modeling engagement, but it was really a sweet and beautiful experience", says Danijela.
Health must be a priority
The new "Body positivity" movement is increasingly present, and this means a natural look and freedom of fashion and style. Choice is free will, believes Danijela, but what is most important to her is that, no matter what trend they follow, people decide for a healthy life.
"I am always for freedom in every sense, absolutely without any judgment. We can't all be thin and we can't all be big. I knew that I experienced various insults about how thin I was, whether I was anorexic or not. It's easiest for people to stick a label on someone. We need to promote everything that is life, we need to be positive about it, to accept that we are all different and that we should not be the same. Nor should we strive to be the same. Therefore, I absolutely support everything, only what I put special emphasis on is health. It is important for me to send a message that we should be responsible towards ourselves and our bodies in the sense that our health should be a priority," she notes.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
