Maria Miguel,
Portugal
An athlete since childhood, Miguel
had long been keen to play
professional soccer—“I was always
super competitive”—when she started
being courted by model scouts. She
found herself more than ready to rise
to the challenge of modeling: “It was
something new, and it went really well,
so I kept doing it,” she says. And though
the multicultural melee of the runway
felt familiar—born in Braga, Miguel,
now 19, was schooled in both Angola
and England, making friends “from
all over the world”—being in front of a
camera took some getting used to.
“I was like a little boy, so I was super
uncomfortable,” she says with a laugh.
Brock Collection top. Banana Republic
T-shirt. Dior skirt. Prada sandals.