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Candice Swanepoel was born and raised in Mooi River, a small village in South Africa, according to her website. Swanepoel is half English and half Afrikaner, a South African ethnic group that descends from the Dutch settlers who arrived on its coast in the 17th century, she told UBeauty’s founder Tina Chen Craig on an Instagram Live in June 2022. As such, Swanepoel is an African of European descent, a concept that sometimes confuses those who are unfamiliar with African history. “You know that ‘Mean Girls’ quote? It happens to me a lot in real life. ‘So if you’re from Africa, why are you white?!'” Swanepoel told Elle in 2017.
Despite not looking like what many expect, Swanepoel is an African through and through. That’s why the supermodel chose to honor her continent with the 2019 campaign of Tropic of C. “I left South Africa when I was 16 years old to pursue my career, but it never left me,” she captioned an Instagram post. “You do not choose to live in Africa, Africa lives in you, and I carry Africa with me every day.”
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The beachwear line included plenty of animal prints, symbolizing her passion for nature — one that was instilled in her thanks to her African upbringing. “The pulsating beat of the African drum lives inside me … my spirit ignites the music carrying me home,” she wrote in the “love letter to Africa” she shared on Instagram in 2019.
