Imagine being scouted for the world’s most glamorous catwalks at just 18… only to find yourself battling for your own survival five years later. The real-life story of Victoire Maçon-Dauxerre is less a fairy tale and more a harrowing cautionary tale—one filled with obsession, paradoxes, and ultimately, hope.
From Street Discovery to Catwalk Star: The Temptation and the Price
Victoire’s life took a sharp turn at 18, when a member of the prestigious Elite agency spotted her on the street. Within weeks, she was swept into the high-octane world of fashion, soon becoming one of the most in-demand models globally. But while her days were packed with photo shoots and runway shows, Victoire was spiralling into a damaging routine that would prove nearly fatal.
Her daily existence? Driven by relentless pressure to fit industry standards, Victoire fashioned her diet around just three apples a day, allowing herself fish or chicken only once a week. In her own words, she became obsessed with squeezing into size 32-34 clothing. The outcome: around ten kilos shed in only two months, yet her self-perception only worsened. “The more weight I lost, the fatter I felt,” she confided. With each passing day, she was not moving closer to glamour but falling deeper into a cycle of mental anorexia, distress, and relentless anxiety. She recalled to Vanity Fair, “My anxiety found its voice in food. I imposed the three apples on myself, telling myself I’d return to a normal diet. But a voice in my head stopped me, always afraid I wouldn’t fit into the clothes.”
The Reality: When Glamour Means Starvation
Standing at 1.78 meters but weighing less than 47 kilos, Victoire’s appearance starkly contrasted the sparkling world she was paraded in. She described herself as a “hanger,” a human clothes rack, and her mother’s shock at seeing her “skeletal” form in the bathroom became a turning point. “She saw I was starving. She brought me a whole roast chicken, and I ate the entire thing,” Victoire recalled on the television program Sept à Huit.
Her time in fashion altered her relationship with her body indelibly. “People wanted me, yes, but thin. I was beautiful because I was thin. It was my only value,” she shared. The cruelty: even as her body was whittled away, her photographs were usually edited to add thighs and cheeks. Beauty, it seemed, was a moving target—one she could never really catch.
- Daily regimen: 3 apples a day
- Meat/fish allowed only once weekly
- Weight: below 47 kg at 1.78 m
- Approximately 10 kg lost in 2 months
- Consequences: mental anorexia, emotional turmoil, stress, depression, bulimia
The cycle worsened after leaving the modeling world. Victoire then struggled with bulimia, depression, and survived a suicide attempt that led to a stay in a psychiatric clinic. Her vivid memoir—Jamais Trop Maigre. Journal d’un Top Model—published in 2016, lays bare these atrocities. In it, she fiercely states, “You cannot impose a sick body as an ideal of beauty. It’s criminal.”
Recovery, Reinvention, and Getting Her Voice Back
Healing, though neither quick nor easy, eventually began. Victoire resumed her studies in London and worked at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Watching others on stage sparked her desire to perform. “It was therapeutic, going through drama school. I reconnected body and mind,” she explained to Vanity Fair.
Now, Victoire can be seen as Vanessa, the chef at Spoon in the daily TF1 series Demain nous appartient. But her journey doesn’t stop with acting: she’s working on adapting her book into a film, collaborating with producers from Vikings—where she had a role in season 6. And though she’ll only play a secondary character (not herself—talk about distance from trauma!), Victoire is heavily involved as a co-producer.
- Actress in Demain nous appartient
- Co-producer and minor actor in the upcoming film adaptation
- Activist with organizations like Imhotep and Ateliers Mercure, advocating for new health policies
Conclusion: Speaking Out Against a Deadly Ideal
Victoire Maçon-Dauxerre’s path from star model to survivor and activist is an electrifying testimony—and a stark reminder that chasing society’s “sick” beauty ideal can cost you everything. Her journey, laid bare both in print and on screen, draws a line in the sand: it’s time to celebrate health over harmful illusions. If you or someone you know struggles with body image, Victoire’s story might be the nudge to seek help—and remember that you’re already so much more than a number on a tag.
Iveta is an aspiring journalist with a passion for storytelling and a deep love for coffee. Always curious and creative, she dreams of sharing stories that inspire, inform, and connect people around the world
