As part of our Body L.O.V.E week, we sat down with our campaign girl Sara Johansen. Originally from Denmark, Sara has been modelling for four years. Bold and beautiful, Sara is what COCONAUTICAL is all about, unique and raw in a world that wants you to stick to the status quo.

You've been in the modelling industry for four years now how much has changed with the rise of curvy models and social media?

Firstly within the modelling industry lies two different categories – high end and e-commerce. High end is the catwalk, e-commerce is your day to day. I am not against curvy models however I do not stand for unfit, extremely overweight models, as its equally as unhealthy and wrong as using anorexic models. The modelling agencies try to overcome issues within the industries but it doesn’t work. For example in Paris its become a mandatory law for models to sign a contract that they are eating. But what difference does that make you could eat once and not for the rest of the day. Plus its all for public experience, I’ve been to castings and can see that nothing has changed. I’ve been for lunch with other models and they do not touch anything. It’s all from the pressure they feel and platforms like Instagram

Do you feel like the industry has lost its professionalism due to social media?
When I started modelling, Instagram was not around. You were judged on how you were and looked. Agencies or clients wouldn't be able to look at how many people follow you. However Instagram, YouTube is also amazing for showing your talent, spreading awareness. Not just in terms of modelling but other industries like art.

How do you overcome criticism being rejection in for the past four years?

If you’re passionate about your job you can take a lot of rubbish before it hits you. However for me I’ve never got to that stage where I’ve had enough. The worst I've felt was when I'd started modelling and I had an audition in Milan. We were all lined up and when the panel got to me the clients didn't look at me at all but I was told to go. That's the worst rejection I've ever felt, but it was only in the beginning and now I just brush the rejection off.

Despite the criticism and rejection that you've faced would you're still 100% confident, do you love yourself how you are and say you're beautiful?
Yes I am beautiful. I am more confident now at 22 and for the length that I’ve been modelling for compared to if I had just started pursuing being a model in 2016. If that was the case I would be constantly comparing myself, looking at why I don’t have X amount of followers and where I live.


How have you managed and maintained a healthy lifestyle?

My mum was incredibly healthy, rarely fed us rubbish so growing up I knew what was good for me. London is a hard city to live in, it’s expensive – if you’re broke you’ll feel crap and eat. Sometimes people lack the knowledge because how they were raised unfortunately. The other day I watched a program where a woman only ate carbs as part of a weight loss diet, sometimes people don’t know whats best for them.

Slay away Sara. We love you!

The CN Crew x