Helena Christensen (born 25 December 1968) is a Danish fashion model. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, co-founder and original creative director for Nylon magazine, and she is a supporter of funding for breast cancer organizations and other philanthropic charities.
Early life
Christensen was born on 25 December 1968 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father, Fleming, is Danish and her mother, Elsa,[citation needed] is Peruvian.[2][3] She is the elder of two daughters.[citation needed] Christensen is fluent in Danish, English, French and German.[4] Winning the Miss Universe Denmark crown in 1986,[5][6] she subsequently represented Denmark in the Miss Universe 1986 pageant held in Panama.[7] The following year, Christensen participated in the Look of the Year 1987 competition, where she was a finalist. She left home soon after to pursue modelling in Paris.[8]
Christensen has continued to model. She graced the covers of Vogue Italia (2016), Portuguese Vogue (2016), British Tatler (2018), French Elle (2018). In September 2017, Christensen, along with Schiffer, Campbell, Crawford, and Carla Bruni, closed the Versace spring/summer 2018 fashion show, which was an homage to the late Gianni Versace and supermodel history.[12] She walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana and appeared in their spring/summer 2019 advertisement campaign with Carla Bruni, Eva Herzigová and Marpessa Hennink. Christensen is signed to ZZO Management in Paris, D Management in Milan, Unsigned Group in London and 1/One Management in New York City.[9]
At a 2007 Sustainable/Green Home opening party
Business and photography
Christensen was co-founder and creative director of Nylon magazine in 1999[13] with Ray Gun magazine publisher Marvin Scott Jarrett,[14] and Kung Faux creator Mic Neumann.[15] She launched her own clothing line, Christensen & Sigersen, with lifelong friend Leif Sigersen. The pair previously ran Butik, a shop in New York's West Village.[16][17] Christensen created a vintage clothing line, sold in her mother's store, the Yo-Yo Second Hand Shop, in Christianshavn, Copenhagen, Denmark.[18][19] In 2012, she created a lingerie collection, Helena Christensen for Triumph, for the UK-based lingerie brand.[20] Christensen's collaboration with Triumph started in 2008 as the face of the Triumph brand.
In 2014, Christensen worked on a photography series: Liberty Ross, Liv Tyler, and The Pursuit of Grace. "I like doing personal, very intimate projects that don't require a lot of pre-meetings".[25]
Christensen has traveled extensively and often finds herself on both sides of the camera. In 2016, she was announced as the "Global Explorer" for the Luxury Collection Hotels and Resorts. Her major project for the company was documenting a trip from the seaside town of Paracas to the colonial city of Cusco and the nearby Urubamba Valley.
Climate change awareness
Christensen partnered with Oxfam in 2009 to document the impact of climate change in Peru, where her mother was born. "Climate change in Peru is already devastating and we welcome Helena's commitment to show this to the rest of the world," said Frank Boeren, Oxfam's coordinator in Peru. "Peru is on the frontline of climate change, along with other developing countries, which have played little part in causing the problem".[26]
Christensen dated and lived with INXS frontman Michael Hutchence on and off in France and Denmark for five years in the early 1990s.[29] She was in a relationship with actor Norman Reedus for five years; together they have a son born October 1999.[30] Reedus and Christensen separated in 2003.[31][32] Later, she dated Interpol singer Paul Banks from 2011 to 2015.[33]
Christensen has an apartment in Copenhagen, a house in Catskill, NY, and lives in Manhattan, where she drives "the only type of car I've ever had", a Morris Minor.[34][35] She reported in 2007 that she had been residing in Monaco.[36]
^"Miss Universe, 1986". Pageantopolis.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Wells, Melanie (1 November 1999). "Entrepreneur as Stunt Man". Forbes.com Magazine. p. 2. Archived from the original on 1 September 2000. Retrieved 21 August 2010. Upstart style magazine Nylon has gotten ink for making supermodel Helena Christensen its creative director.
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