MY FASHIONABLE LIFE: HELENA CHRISTENSEN

The Danish supermodel, photographer and businesswoman, 52, on the joy of clothes that last a lifetime – and beyond

The supermodel talks about a life lived in fashion, from style influenced by the places she’s lived to her love of secondhand clothing and the legacy of that Versace dress

MY LOVE OF COLOUR COMES FROM MY PERUVIAN SIDE. As a girl I travelled to Peru a lot – it’s where my mother is from. The vivid colours and fabrics of the Indigenous people in Cusco are forever imprinted in my mind. At 14, I wore a full Peruvian outfit to my first communion; I looked like a giant Easter egg. My hair was permed and I wore frosted pink lipstick with blue mascara. I was a vision.

SECONDHAND CLOTHING IS A BIG PART OF MY LIFE.

My mother owned a vintage clothes store in Copenhagen, where I grew up. It’s an honour to wear another woman’s history and take it on new adventures. My secondhand jumper collection is out of control, I own at least 100 of them. I find them impossible to resist if I spot one at a flea market.

I WORE A BALLGOWN TO SCHOOL. Aged 12, with men’s long thermals. The boys in my class teased me, but I didn’t care. I had fun with fashion every day; I still do.

I SPLURGED ON PRADA WITH MY FIRST PAYCHECK.

While I was in Milan during my first season, the AW90 shows, I found a black, fitted pencil skirt with a long slit up to my underwear and a pair of 1930s-style pointed leather shoes in soft pink. I still wear both now. It was moving to Paris at age 20 that ignited my appreciation for designer labels. Before then, I didn’t even read fashion magazines.

I NEVER EXPECTED THE VERSACE LEATHER HARNESS DRESS I WORE IN 1992 TO BECOME SO ICONIC. But I knew it was special, it made me feel powerful. Now women from Beyoncé to Kim Kardashian have worn that same dress and it’s part of fashion history. I’ll always remember that runway show for having the best lighting, it made all the models look like otherworldly goddesses – everything was always extra with Gianni Versace.

I’VE ALWAYS FELT COMFORTABLE REVEALING SKIN. I think it’s a Scandinavian thing. We’re raised to feel the human form is natural – we have no restrictions or stigma over it. The body is rarely mentioned, so we don’t grow up feeling self-conscious.

I ACTUALLY LOVE MEN’S CLOTHING. In my ‘real life’, I wear lots of layers and baggy trousers, usually 1950s Christian Dior and Saint Laurent, in a few sizes too big so they fall to my hips, and pair them with Coco De Mer lingerie and an oversized shirt.

LIVING IN NEW YORK TAUGHT ME TO EMBRACE

ECCENTRICITY. The streets are electric. Everyone is so vibrant and has a total lack of inhibitions. People wear an ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude with every look.

I RARELY WEAR HEELS. I’ve hardly ever worn them, apart from on the catwalk, probably due to my height. They’re aesthetically beautiful, but I prefer to admire them like a piece of art rather than wear them.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITEMS I OWN? MY 199Os COUTURE GOWNS. I’ll always treasure my Valentino and John Galliano pieces. Some even still fit. But I’ll keep them forever.

Helena Christensen shot, starred in and styled the new Coco de

Mer Icons campaign, out now