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"When you type in Valentijn de Hingh in your Google search bar, you&amp;#039;ll get many results. Most of them are about her, some of them are written by her. Quickly scanning through the results a few overlapping words can be easily noticed: model, transgender, documentary. However, just to describe Valentijn as a transgender model who has been followed by a documentary maker would not do her enough justice. Valentijn was an eight-year-old boy when she was filmed for the first time. Initially, the filming was for a television program about gender identity disorder in children. Documentary maker Hetty Niesch then came with the idea of filming Valentijn for a longer period, in order to make a documentary about her life in the long run and the decisions she&amp;#039;d have to make in the future. That longer period turned out to be a filming period of 9 years. When the documentary finally aired on Dutch television in 2007, people soon realized this was a rather unique insight in the life of a transgender child, including all the difficulties and stigmas they often face. After the broadcast Valentijn, who by that time had her gender reassignment surgery done, was in a way relieved. While she was really impressed with the documentary itself, she felt that it was time to move on with her life instead of becoming a person solely linked to the documentary made about her. And so she did. At the age of 17, 1.80 meters tall and with cheekbones most other models would be envious of, it didn&amp;#039;t take long before Valentijn signed up with a model agency in Amsterdam. Soon she was sent to Paris, walking shows for the likes of Martin Margiela and Comme des Garcons. Eventually Valentijn was deemed too tall, at 1.86 meters, for a serious career as a top model. Her interest in fashion always remained though. She cites Alexander McQueen and Olivier Theyskens as her favorite designers and Isabella Blow as her number one style icon. Not coincidentally they&amp;#039;re all fashion figures known for their dramatic designs or eccentric lives, or both. This is something that translates very well to Valentijn\u2019s personal style, which can be best described as anything but ordinary. In 2010 Valentijn started working as an assistant booker at the renowned Paparazzi model agency in Amsterdam, where her own previous experiences as a model proved to be valuable. At the same time the fashion world was buzzing over transgender models such as Lea T. and Andrej Pejic. The timing for a relaunch of Valentijn&amp;#039;s career seemed right. A few months later she flew to New York for the first time in her life, shooting with Patrick Demarchelier and Katie Grand for LOVE magazine. She also shot with Benjamin Alexander Huseby for Luis Venegas&amp;#039; much talked about Candy magazine. As a result, her modeling career is blossoming once again and Valentijn is currently shooting a lot for various magazines. At the moment Valentijn is also studying literature science at the University of Amsterdam. Living in Amsterdam, she feels at home, a place where she can totally be herself. In the future she&amp;#039;d love to do something in fashion journalism, as that combines her interest in fashion with the passion for writing. Currently, she is already successfully contributing as an author to the popular Dutch site Spunk. Who knows, in ten or fifteen years Valentijn might be as well the new Cathy Horyn or Suzy Menkes. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Special thanks to G. Koning &amp;nbsp; Producer and text Jan Clemens Hoek Filmed by Marco van Rijt Stylist Habib Yahyaoui Hair and make-up Chantal van Gogh Assistants Michele van Vliet, Fleur Hoogeveen Clothes and accessories: Alexander Wang, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Lanvin, Yohji Yamamoto, Jumya Watanabe Special thanks to Carma Coma and Kabinet."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.vogue.it/en/fashion/models/2011/06/10/valentijn-de-hingh/>