The comfort she gets from finding an adopted
family in fashion’s famous faces is linked to her close relationship with her
own family. Katryn has lived in Bothasig, Cape Town, with her parents and
younger brother all her life. Travelling alone for the first time last year was an adjustment for the whole family to
make. ‘I’ve only just turned 17. It’s difficult sometimes – there are days when
I just want to be barefoot on the couch with my dogs,’ she says, adding that
when she is working in South Africa, the experience is completely different
from working overseas. ‘Here I can still be childlike and carefree, but
overseas it’s more professional and adult. I have to be in charge of my own
safety and transport. Wheeas here, my mom and dad drop me off or pick me up.
It’s alot more relaxed.’
Katryn
Kruger. Cacharel - Fashion Week Paris A/W 12 PaP
Spending time being a normal teenager is one
of her favouitr things to do when she is home. ‘One of the best things is that
my mom washes my clothes!’ she laughs. “Instead of me washing them in the
shower with body wash. At least when I’m home I know they’re properly clean.’
‘I miss my mom’s Afrikaans food. I’m also
never in one place long enough to buy things like peanut butter. So I really miss
peanut butter and syrup on toast sometimes. And the language,’ she adds. ‘I
really miss hearing Afrikaans.’
Late on shoot day, her dad, financial planner
Pieter Kruger, is waiting on set to collect her after nearly 12 hours of
shooting. For each new look, Katryn has been transformed into almost an
entirely new person, and for the last few shots, her hair and make-up become a
little more dramatic. ‘Oh no,’ he says laughing as hait-stylisy Kevin Epstein
teases out her hair, ‘it looks like a bad hair day!’ As the hairstyle takes
shape, the mane Kevin created is tamed into a neat ballerina bun. ‘Ah, not such
a bad hair day after all,’ Pieter remarks smiling, mild relief in his voice.
Though sitting out of the way and busying himself with his work, Pieter keeps a
close eye on everything happening on set. ‘I was [with her] on her very first
shoot, when she did shots for a photo library, but haven’t seen her at work
since then. This is such an incredible experience,’ he says.
Katryn
Kruger for Stella Magazine March 2012 by James Meakin
Both Katryn’s parents are involved in her
career, and her dad chuckles as he refers to himself as her ‘self-appointed
manager’. ‘We are very proud of what she has done. It has definitely been an
adjustment for us all, but it has come at the right time for Katryn.’ The
relationship between father and daughter is a close one, with her dad swooping
in to hug her tightly as soon as the team wraps, and posing proudly for a
photograph with her. As the studio is tidied up and clothes find their way back
into bags, he comments on Katryn’s last look: ‘The clothing is incredible. Just
look at that. Absolutely beautiful.’ And adds the three words every dad hopes
to save for later, and will say with a mixture of pride and disbelief: ‘So grown
up.’
Katryn
says her dad’s phone number is one of the two most dialled numbers on her phone
Katryn says her dad’s phone number is one of
the two most dialled numbers on her phone. And the other one? She smiles
broadly before saying, ‘My boyfriend’. As soon as she starts talking about the
special man in her life, her international fashion star persona is entirely
forgotten and she sounds like any 17 years old caught up in the butterflies of
a new relationship. ‘It started as a summer romance, his family was camping
just down the road from mine in Hartenbos in December.’ The young man who has
stolen her heart, Cilliers Kies, is a fifth-year medical student at
Stellenbosch University. ‘We’ve known each other for a very long time,’ she
says, explaining that their parents have been friends for years. ‘When the
holiday was over we were still together and we’re very happy.’
