After her rapid rise to global success, the Romanian-born model Andreea Diaconu at last feels able to relax – and in some style, too, as she takes an autumn road trip through Upstate New York.
Rubbing shoulders with the beautiful people is now all in a day’s work for Andreea Diaconu, the 24-year-old Romanian-born face of Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Belstaff, who has called New York’s SoHo home for the past four years. ‘I see Christy Turlington at my coffee shop,’ she says. ‘She seems like such a nice person, but I get shy and don’t look at her.’
Diaconu was 11 when she was spotted at a local pool in her native Bucharest. ‘I was against modelling at first but I finally caved in after the agent who scouted me offered me €50, as I was desperate to enter this karate competition,’ she recalls.
Her first runway show was during London Fashion Week, aged 15, and other jobs followed while she finished school. At 20 she made the decision to head for the Big Apple and make a career of modelling. ‘I love living in New York,’ she says. ‘Everybody is interesting – they influence you in different ways. I also love going to amazing places, like Argentina, Mexico and Spain, and meeting new people. Modelling definitely opens doors to many other things.’
As for her ultimate pinch-me moment? ‘The first time I shot for US Vogue – I didn’t expect that. And when I got confirmed for Mario Sorrenti for Italian Vogue, I was like, “What the hell, is this real?”’
Earning a reputation as one of the most in-demand models of the moment does not come without sacrifices. Diaconu, who speaks five languages (Romanian, Spanish, English, French and Italian), had to drop out of the University of Bucharest, where she was studying PR and communications, and she admits to having suffered burn-out early in her career.
‘I was travelling every single day,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t sleeping, I didn’t have any friends, and my brain stopped working. I rationalised it by telling myself that I was young, that I could do this, and that people work in hospitals for 20 hours a day. But I ended up sick and wanting to quit everything.’
Having had a month-long hiatus three years ago – and some much-needed sleep – Diaconu maintains that she is now able to strike the balance between work and life. She appeared on the September issue of American Vogue last year, alongside a number of It-models dubbed ‘The Instagirls’ for their massive followings on social media – including Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Arizona Muse, Joan Smalls and Edie Campbell – and has fronted campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Céline, H&M, Chloé and Victoria’s Secret. But in her downtime you will find her surfing at Rockaway Beach in Queens, where her boyfriend has a house, and taking guitar lessons – fulfilling a once-unattainable dream.
‘I grew up in a very modest family with my mother and grandmother,’ she says. ‘It was a regular childhood enjoying the simple pleasures in life. The only thing that made me sad was that I wanted to take classical piano lessons or learn to play another instrument, but that cost money so I couldn’t do it.’
Given her humble beginnings, financial freedom is hardly second nature to her. ‘If I go to a friend’s apartment and they leave the lights on, I’m the first to go around turning them off,’ she says. ‘And when I eat, I always have to finish the whole plate.’ Being a sought-after model has also taken a bit of getting used to. ‘As a child I was tall and skinny, and I was teased for the way I looked,’ she says. ‘I used to pray that one day I would have big arms and a fat bottom.’
Surely she has sexy down now? ‘My boyfriend makes me feel sexy, and I like feeling sexy when it’s appropriate,’ she says. A lover of the outdoors, she enjoys ‘hikes, swimming in lakes, driving to different places and being in the woods’.
For her, our cover shoot in Upstate New York was heaven. ‘I could have bought everything from the shoot,’ she says. ‘We stayed two nights and it was really relaxed and fun. It didn’t feel like work. I also got to have a thousand scoops of ice cream to get that one shot.’
Describing her style as ‘simplistic’, Diaconu says she can’t resist a great vintage find. Exposure to high fashion was not in her DNA. ‘I came across Puma and Adidas, but they were probably fakes,’ she says. ‘I actually hate thinking about what to wear, and when I’m not working I will be make-up-less, except for maybe a bit of mascara.’
Diaconu says that she has a ‘nice group of friends’ to go out with, but eating out is more her thing, and most nights you’ll find her at Navy, a cosy neighbourhood restaurant where the emphasis is on fresh vegetables and seafood. ‘I really enjoy food,’ she says. ‘Last year I was really into exploratory cuisine, like bacon with chocolate. I used to love running and I would work out a lot, but I got so hungry I had to stop, so now I just surf. I go back to Romania two or three times a year and love driving around. I have a sense of security there, and my grandmother makes sure I have everything my heart desires.’
Diaconu also supports children’s charities, donating to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, and connecting anyone she can to Art and Abolition, an organisation focused on ending child sex slavery in East Africa. ‘There are so many issues with children being affected by conflict,’ she says. ‘Some of them have no access to water and it’s heartbreaking. I wish I had greater insight on how to help in a way that’s not intrusive.’
