Helena Christensen
‘In many ways, I’m old-fashioned’
Some people were “influencers” decades before the term was coined. One of the original supermodels, Helena Christensen, now 49, has weathered three decades as a household name, and sounds as laid-back talking about her stellar career as she might be discussing the local library rota.
Perhaps it’s because, finally, she’s no longer seen as just “a model”. Although Christensen has been a committed photographer since her twenties, her work is becoming more widely recognised.
“I only really started modelling because I was a photographer,” she explains. “The two careers have been running parallel all my life – it’s been very symbiotic.” She makes it sound simple; yet in the new climate of #Metoo and #Timesup, fashion is currently one of the most tainted industries. Did she never experience anything untoward? Her warm, singsong tone frosts over.
“I don’t really want to get into all of that,” she states. “All I’m going to say: it’s a really great time for women to support each other and stand up for what you believe – to be honest and true to yourself.”
Christensen herself is a beacon of inner confidence – it’s hard to imagine her ever being forced into anything she doesn’t want to do.
“As a model, you have to have a hell of a lot of confidence in yourself, and feel what’s right for you,” she says. “That’s what I did my whole career, and I made mistakes but I also made great choices.”
Much of her certainty, she thinks, is down to her upbringing. “Having come from a very tight-knit, loving family, and having parents who allowed me and my sister to be ourselves, fully loved but with a lot of discipline – it was a very well-balanced childhood,” she says. “It was about speaking up for yourself, and being very passionate and curious about life, but also confident and independent.
“We’d been going travelling since I was born, backpacking around the world,” she says. “It all plays a role towards how you are in your twenties and how you react to anyone in any business – but, certainly, in this one.”
And while other older models have weighed in on the pressures facing younger ones, Christensen insists that their protection is largely a parent’s responsibility. “That is one of the most important things – to
‘It’s a great time for women to support each other and stand up’
instil self-respect in your kids.” What does she think about the pressures of social media? She is the owner of a beautifully curated Instagram account, documenting aspects of her life, “it’s like a visual diary”.
“When I’m 100, I can go back and look at my life. But the biggest issue for me is how time-consuming it is,” she admits. “I think, how much time is taken out of these young people’s lives because they’re so dependent on their phones?”
Her son Mingus, now 18, “doesn’t really need my advice any more”, she laughs. But, she adds, “it’s so important, as a parent, to make sure the time spent on a computer is equalised with time in nature, physical activities, great movies, reading books, art…”
Her own mothering, Christensen says, is also a balance. “I’m oldfashioned in some ways, but in others, completely free-spirited. The apple doesn’t fall far.”
Although Mingus has modelled on the Calvin Klein catwalk, she adds: “I don’t really think it’s going to be for him, but he can definitely see the appeal of setting up a little money for his studies. He has a great sense of humour and loves music, so I think, OK, I did my job!”
Balance is key to her own happiness – modelling and photography, travel and home life, city and nature – but, mostly, food comes first. “It’s my second biggest love, next to my kid and dog, and we’re OK with that,” she jokes. It’s depressingly normal to hear stick-thin models bleating about their love of sausage and mash, but Christensen’s physique has always been athletic, honed by decades of boxing and running, and it’s easy to believe she really does eat.
“Maybe it’s because I grew up with a South American mum in Denmark, where there are so many incredible food products. If I meet somebody new and I really like them, I can guarantee it’s because of their love of food.”
She loves to cook “spicy rock shrimp pasta, Moroccan chicken stew, a Mediterranean tilapia stew – I like making stews that simmer for a long time, and I add all different kinds of ingredients. I would watch Mum cook and she would take out all her jars and just put a little dollop of each into this big, boiling pan.”
When it comes to recipes, she adds: “I never follow them, but I love reading them. It’s something I get really obsessed with. That, and obituaries. They can be so surreal…”
She turns 50 this year, and though she refuses to discuss ageing (“ask me when I’m 90, and in a home”, she says, crossly), with her son now having reached adulthood, she has more freedom than ever. But she insists, there is still no game plan.
“One thing has always just led to another. Knock on wood, I’m going to continue in this vein, I want to have an open mind, experience everything as if it’s the first time.”
It is photography, though, that continues to excite her – she’s just shot a high-profile campaign based around strong female influencers for Huawei’s new P20 phone.
“Once you get into photography, there’s no limit, there’s visuals everywhere around you,” she says. “Everything changes depending on what day you look at things, what light you look in. I’m extremely grateful that I found something that will never bore me,” she adds.
“You might go through your entire life not feeling that passionate about much, and I’m like: ‘Oh, thank God.’ It’s a relief.”
As the conversation closes and she prepares to pack for a trip to Paris, to celebrate the phone’s launch, Christensen returns to the subject of Instagram. “In so many ways, I feel very lucky – but as anyone who ever looks on Instagram should know, life has so many layers.
“For all the things you’re grateful for, there is always a balance of other things you might not feel that way about,” she says.
“You put the exciting, fun, beautiful pictures on Instagram, but there’s a different side you don’t see. Maybe that’s one thing we have to make children aware of – that there is always another side, and that’s a part of life, too.”