Niels Trispel

Niels Trispel is a Dutch model from Arnhem whose international breakthrough came when he opened Prada’s fall-winter 2015 show as an exclusive. An interest in graphic design and photography accompanied his entry into fashion, while later work as a DJ gave him another creative outlet.

Niels was discovered through a photograph taken at a friend’s birthday party. The friend had briefly modeled and remained connected to his former agent on Facebook; after seeing the picture, Max Models contacted Niels about trying the profession. He went on to model full time after finishing school in 2015.

His early career developed through a close working relationship with photographer Willy Vanderperre and stylist Olivier Rizzo. Alongside Prada advertising, Niels appeared in AnOther and Document Journal. Working on photographic sets also connected with the visual subjects he had planned to study, giving him practical experience of how fashion images are made.

Advertising soon extended beyond Prada. Niels joined the cast of Coach’s spring-summer 2016 campaign, photographed by Steven Meisel, who also photographed him for Vogue Italia that March. His magazine portfolio subsequently grew through publications including GQ Japan and Esquire, with a 2018 story for Esquire Italia photographed by Sergi Pons.

Music became a separate part of Niels’s creative life. A 2019 New York DJ appearance documented an interest in electronic and house music that had developed after he began DJing while living in Beijing. His New York sets brought disco and funk into a working life already shaped by international travel.

A fragrance assignment followed with Hermès’s H24 campaign in 2022, photographed by Christopher Anderson. Niels later appeared alongside Maggie Maurer in Officine Générale’s fall-winter 2023 advertising, photographed by Laurence Ellis. These later projects extended the advertising career that began with his early Prada casting.