Name: Helena Christensen
Date of Birth: December 25, 1968
Place of Birth: Copenhagen, Denmark
Sign: Capricorn
Occupation: Model
Helena Christensen is certainly one of the leading
supermodels of the 1990's. She has had one of the most
diverse careers of those belonging to this elite group
familiar to most everyone. A veteran of the fashion
runways and trade magazines, Helena is still one of
the most in-demand models.
The leaders of the fashion world have endlessly showered
praise about Helena's captivating looks. The late designer
Gianni Versace said she has the most beautiful body.
Karl Lagerferld described her as possessing a figure
type that's very rare. Nobody has better legs. John
Galliano comments, she fills clothes with life and fire.
Her great success has allowed Helena to be more selective
about her work. However, it is for her work for Victoria's
Secret that she is perhaps best known to most. She appears
regularly in eveyone's favorite lingere company's catalogs,
as well as in televised ad campaigns, alongside other
Victoria's Secret models like Yasmeen Ghauri.
In addition to these more traditional modeling opportunities,
Helena has also worked in various film and television
projects. These include: the MTV fashion show Fashionably
Loud, the 1992 independent film Inferno, and Chris Isaak's
hit music video Wicked Game.
Born on Christmas day in 1968 to a Danish father and
Peruvian mother, Helena grew up in Denmark. Her childhood
interests included music and photography. In 1986 she
was selected as Miss Denmark and competed in the Miss
Universe pageant. Following this experience, Helena
left her home for Paris at the age of 18 to pursue a
modeling career. There she excelled immediately, after
a shoot for Elle Magazine. A cover shoot by Peter Lindbergh
for Vogue followed, and within a short period, Helena
was getting prominent contracts from leading designers
on both sides of the Atlantic.
Helena soon gained further media attention through
her relationship with rocker Michael Hutchence. She
was frequently spotted with the late lead singer of
INXS in the pages of the tabloids.
However, while Hutchence's career was declining, Helena's
was quickly rising. For whatever reasons, the two grew
apart after several years and went their separate ways
before Hutchence's death. Helena was later linked with
actor Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Billy Corgan in the
gossip columns.
Following those rumored relationships, she dated writer/photographer
Peter Makebisch. Though they too have since broken up,
she apparently left quite a mark on Mr. Makebisch, as
his arm bears a tattoo of the Danish supermodel.
One of Helena's career highlights interestingly occurred
outside of the normal modeling world. She was cast in
1991 for the video Wicked Game, Chris Isaac's single.
The haunting song tells the tale of love gone bad. The
video was shot on the dark sands and surf of Hawaii.
Though she naturally was given no speaking lines, Helena
plays the woman who wrongs Isaak. In the video she frolics
along the beach, while Isaak croons about their love
affair nearby.
Helena removes her bikini top in the water, and starts
tantalizing him. The two embrace and proceed to roll
around in the sand together. The song fades to a mellow
ending, as she gets up and runs off into the distance.
Wicked Game is still regularly aired on music channels,
and was recently selected as the Sexiest Video of All-Time
by MTV.
Recently Helena has been seen prominently on American
television in ads for the lingerie company Victoria's
Secret. As one of their signature Angels, she shot several
commercials with fellow models Stephanie Seymour, Karen
Mulder, Daniela Pestova, and Tyra Banks. The spots were
generally very goofy and the script involving a lame
premise such as singer Tom Jones arriving in heaven
and being greeted by the angels. However, we must remember
that it is pure eye candy, so we can't really ask for
Oscar caliber performances!
Helena maintains residences in New York, Monaco, and
her native Copenhagen. She turns up every so often in
the New York social-life columns as having attended
events such as fundraisers, show openings, or movie
premieres. Among her closest friends are fellow models
Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni, Karen Mulder, and Eva
Herzigova.
In an interview she listed that some of her interests
including painting, photography, interior decorating,
and Rock music. She also stated that real life starts
when I stop being a model and described having a family
as a future goal. But for now she remains a supermodel,
much to the delight of fans around the world.