Helena Christensen, 5 things you don't know about the Danish supermodel

Helena Christensen she is a fashion icon, there is no doubt about that. In the nineties, the journalist of New York Times Frank De Caro included it among the Magnificent Seventogether with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer and thus the myth of Supermodels. No more anonymous faces in glossy magazines but star models with a fan following worthy of actresses and singers. And, indeed, her career goes far beyond being the face of countless brand emblazoned.

In 1990, just starting out, he was the protagonist of the Spring-Summer campaign of Chanel created by Karl Lagerfeld but it was shortly after, in 1991, when he appeared in Chris Isaak's video Wicked Gamesdirected by the talented photographer Herb Rittsthat his career took off.

Literally: it seems she was so in demand that she was constantly on the plane, flying between one set and another. Everyone wants it, including Gianni Versace who describes her as “the most beautiful body in the world” and dresses her with some looks unforgettable, became part of the pop culturelike the dress bondage That Helena Christensen wears in 1993, reinterpreted years later at the MET gala afterparty in 2018 by Kim Kardashian.

Helena Christensen models for Gianni Versace in 1993.

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So far, we are sure that it is anecdotes that we all know, for better or worse. In reality, however, there is much more to know about the model born and raised in Copenhagen. In fact, her career did not end once she stopped being a full-time model. So much so that her interests led her to experiment with him areas the most disparate, from photography tointerior design, but not only. Here are five fun facts that you probably don't know about one of the most famous faces in the fashion Nineties.

Fashion shows from the 90s are going crazy on TikTok. Why?

The personalities and iconic moments that made the golden era of supermodels memorable seem to have been enthusiastically (re)discovered by Generation Z. And the reasons may be more unexpected than you imagine

1. She was a photographer, even before becoming a model

In 2009 at the inauguration of his exhibition Meltdownin London, which told through images the trip to Peru made with Oxfam to document the impact of climate change on local populations.

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«One of the reasons I started modeling is that I thought it would be a great way to explore the world of images. Working with the greatest talents of the lens means, in practice, that I went to photography school for more than twenty years » she said in an interview with The Guardian. Inseparable from his camera, he doesn't just work for magazine patinated but he collaborated with Oxfamin 2009, documenting the effects of climate change in Peru, the third country most exposed to the risks of global warming. The images were then exhibited at the London Proud Gallery, in the British capital. Since 2019 she has also been an ambassador for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and she has traveled everywhere from South America to the Middle East, using her own the camera to tell the stories of the most fragile populations on the planet.

2. He founded the legendary fashion magazine Nylon

The first cover of the independent magazine Nylon from 1999.

When she entered the publishing world in 1999, Nylon it quickly became the point of reference for those looking for one different look and original on fashion. What not everyone knows is that she was actually the ex Miss Denmarkwith Marvin Scott Jarret And Mic Neumannto create the newspaper of which she was also creative director. On the first issue, a shot of Liv Tyler portrayed precisely by his lens. «I have always wanted to excel and learn everything about art and photography. So when I had the opportunity to co-found a magazine I jumped at it because it was a great way to immerse myself in both. The idea was to create a magazine different from all the others, which was very personal but also interactive from an artistic point of view” he said Christensen in an interview with Number.

3. She is the muse and creative director of the perfume brand Strangelove

As we had already anticipated, Helena Christensen it's a mannequin with multiple interests. Which also include fragrances: passionate about oils and essences, she has put her face and creativity at the service of maison created in New York by her friend Elizabeth Gaynes. The brands currently has five references, whose suggestive names (Deadofnight, Fallintostars, Lostinflowers, MeltmyheartAnd Silencethesea) were designed by supermodel.

4. She loves jazz and her son is named after her favorite artist

There music is fundamental in the life of the model, which she told a The Strategist to listen to it every day, starting from the exact moment he wakes up. «Every morning I turn on the radio and tune in to the channel jazz, Charles Mingus he is my favorite artist. His music is complex, it gets inside you and I think I've listened to his albums endlessly. That's why, when my son was born, I decided together with my partner (the actor Norman Reedus, ed.) to name him Mingus, in honor of his music. As soon as he was born, we took him to one of his concerts bandwhere the artist's widow, discovering that there was a newborn baby in the room who bore her husband's name, gave us a book that told their love story.”

5. He collects antiques and does interior design

Camilla Staerk and Helena Christensen.

David M. Benett/Getty Images

Passionate about vintage who has been collecting since an early age, has extended his interest far beyond the clothes and, together with the designer of fabrics Camilla Staerkalso Danish, created Staerk & Christensendigital platform with showroom physical a New York where you can buy furnishings And art objectsbut also clothes And accessories inspired by Nordic aesthetics. It's not the first time that supermodel deals with interiors: in 2005 he opened, again in the Big Apple, Butik (now, unfortunately, closed), a large space that offered the best of Scandinavian brands, fromclothing up to actual furniture.