Her androgynous features quickly garnered recognition, and she gained significant exposure through her early runway and editorial work with prestigious designers such as Alexander McQueen[14] and Jil Sander[2] while becoming the protégé[2] of acclaimed photographers Inez and Vinoodh.

The 2010 Hannelore Knuts career “anti-retrospective[16]”, ‘Ultramegalore[16]’ at Modemuseum Hasselt, gained widespread attention and reviews from media outlets such as The New York Times[16] and Interview Magazine.

The expo featured an uncredited contribution by Nick Cave[19] as well as works by Ugo Rondinone, Juergen Teller, Azzedine Alaïa, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Luc Tuymans and more.

Following the first decade of her modelling career, Hannelore Knuts broadened her repertoire collaborating with fine art imagemakers like Michael Thompson, Tim Walker, Yelena Yemchuk, David Armstrong, Danko Steiner, Lernert & Sander, Joseph Lally, Urs Fischer, Mario Sorrenti and Philip Metten.

In 2014, Hannelore performed in a live art installation by Lawrence Malstaf which saw her vacuum-sealed above a Paris Fashion Week runway presentation by Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen.

She acted as a spokesperson for Designers Against Aids in the Belgian Parliament[27] and raised awareness about the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by models, promoting open discussions on mental health through a series of talks.

[28] Hannelore also became a certified mindfulness and compassion meditation teacher in 2021 after completing the course taught by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield at UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center.