Childhood & Early Life
Stella Maynes Maxwell was born on May 15, 1990, in Brussels, Belgium, to Stella Maynes and Maurice Maxwell. Her parents were Irish. She was the youngest of the four children in the family.
Her father worked as the head of delegation for the European commission. Hence, his work had him traveling around a lot. Stella once stated that even though they looked Irish and had Irish roots, they never spent enough time in Ireland. Her father was on a diplomatic mission to Belgium, and she began her early education there.
She joined the ‘European School, Brussels II.’ The school had strict uniform codes. Stella was a normal young girl, who liked spending time with her friends and cracking goofy jokes. However, as she grew up, she became aware of her extraordinary good looks and spent a lot of time reading fashion magazines. Ever since her early teenage years, she aspired to become a fashion model.
When she was 13, she moved to Canberra, Australia. She lived there for a year until her father’s work had her moving yet again, this time to Wellington, New Zealand, where the family settled for good. She initially attended the ‘Queen Margaret College.’ She then joined the ‘University of Otago,’ where she pursued her bachelor’s degree in psychology.
While attending the university, she was spotted by an agent from a reputed modeling agency. Stella got her photo shoot done and also gave some test shots to Aliana McDaniel. Her photos began to be circulated, and she soon began receiving offers to model for reputed brands.
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Career
By 2008, she had begun working with some of the top fashion designers of the time, such as Charles Anastase and Mara Hoffman. She modeled for the autumn-spring collection of brands such as ‘Luella’ and ‘Fashion East.’
One of the first modeling assignments of her career was a photo shoot with ‘Vogue,’ which featured her as a back-up model for Kate Moss.
By 2010, she had started to receive offers of modeling for magazines. She participated in photo shoots for many European and Japanese magazines. Some of her early magazine shoots were for ‘Elle Italy’ and ‘Elle Belgium.’ She began to get popular quickly and thus began receiving offers from many international modeling agencies. She signed with ‘Trump Model Management,’ an agency owned by Donald Trump.
She moved to Paris, where she got her hair cut short and began preparing for the European “Fashion Weeks.” There, in the early 2010s, her career received a major boost, as she earned big modeling gigs with brands such as ‘Seuss,’ ‘Alexander McQueen,’ ‘H&M,’ and ‘Urban Outfitters.’
In 2011, she received widespread coverage as she appeared at the ‘Concept Korea Spring/Summer’ fashion show. The ‘Snow White’-themed show featured her in a ‘Lolita’-esque look. However, the show ended in a disaster for her, as she fell while walking on the ramp.
She faced a similar incident in 2016, when she fell while walking the ramp for the ‘Miu Miu Resort’ fashion show.
In addition, she also walked the ramp for popular designers such as Jeremy Scott (of ‘Moschino’) and Mark Jacobs. However, she was not satisfied with her agencies and continued to hop from one agency to another. Following her disagreements with ‘Trump Model Management,’ she signed with ‘Why Not Model Management.’
She had her career’s biggest breakthrough in 2014, when she was selected to walk the ramp at the ‘Victoria’s Secret’ fashion show. The honor happens to be the ultimate goal for any model, as the brand’s shows have been watched in 190 countries across the world. In 2015, she was signed as a “Victoria’s Secret Angel.”
Stella appeared in the Japanese, French, Thai, Spanish, German, and Turkish editions of ‘Vogue’ magazine, along with other top fashion magazines, such as ‘Harper’s Bazaar,’ ‘Glamour,’ and ‘Madame Figaro.’
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She has walked the ramp for eminent designers and fashion houses such as Alberta Ferretti, Issey Miyake, ‘Max Mara,’ and Thierry Mugler.
She has worked on advertising campaigns for brands such as ‘Puma,’ ‘Mango,’ ‘Max Factor,’ ‘Versace,’ and ‘River Island.’
She also began her designing career when she collaborated with the French fashion brand ‘The Kooples’ for a designer handbag line named after her.
In 2016, she attained the top spot on the ‘Maxim Hot 100’ list.
She ventured into acting with the 2018 biographical drama film titled ‘JT LeRoy.’ However, she had an un-credited, small role in the film.
Family & Personal Life
Stella Maxwell dated Liam Hemsworth in 2009. They broke up in 2013.
She is bisexual. She reportedly dated Miley Cyrus in 2015. Back then, they were seen together at many events. They also posted a lot of their pictures together on their respective social-media profiles.
In 2017, she was seen kissing Hollywood actor Kristen Stewart in a car. They had apparently started dating in 2016 and were together for a year. In July 2017, the couple also gatecrashed a lesbian wedding in Canada.
Stella says that she loves her native land, Ireland, and visits the country at least twice a year.
Stella has expressed her interest in acting and she also makes music as a hobby.
