Supermodel, beauty queen, photographer, Victoria’s

Secret ‘angel’ and clothing designer, Helena Christensen

has an impressive résumé. In her latest venture,

UNSIGNED, Christensen returns to the modeling industry

– this time as mentor. In a collaboration between

international online fashion resource F.TAPE and Swarovski

CRYSTALLIZED™, the UNSIGNED competition aspires to

scout out young, undiscovered models and give their

careers a firm foothold in the industry. Christensen gives

Salt the lowdown on the contest.

Q: What are the aims of the UNSIGNED project?

A: We hope to discover some incredible new faces. And

we want to make sure that we really nurture these young

models so they are ready to enter the industry.

Q: What are the models ultimately competing for?

A: The two winners – one male and one female – will

become the new faces of the spring/summer 2012

Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ campaign. It’s an incredible

opportunity and a great platform for them. I’m particularly

excited as I’m the campaign photographer!

Q: You’ve made a smooth transition from top model

to top photographer – how did you do it?

A: I was a photographer before I was a model, so it was

really the other way round. I never felt I had to separate

the two, or make any kind of transition. Photography

is a personal and ongoing project for me, and modeling is

something I’m still inspired by, and am lucky enough to

be able to keep doing.

Q: You’ve worked with some incredible designers.

Who has been your favourite?

A: Karl Lagerfeld is someone who always amazes me

whenever we work together. I admire him for so many

reasons, not least his drive, intellect and huge talent. Marc

Jacobs is someone else that I always feel comfortable

around, someone I’m inspired by, and furthermore, he

is someone I feel totally at ease with. His sense of humor

is pretty awesome.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring models?

A: I think you know intuitively when something is right for

you, and it’s important to listen to that. Don’t fret if you get

turned down a lot, because lots of now-successful models

only made it after several years. But if it seems like it’s not

working out, and you have to be very realistic about this,

then leave the modeling business behind and don’t look

back. Only very few make it to the top, and even at the top

you will be turned down. But having said that, if you have

the desire and the drive, then go for it. I have had so many

incredible experiences in the past 20 years. I still cannot

believe all this happened to me.

Model futures Helena Christensen teams up

with UNSIGNED and Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™ to launch

an exciting new project WORDS Sarah Deeks PORTRAIT John Akehurst

MODEL MENTORHelena Christensen wearing ‘Fergie Collier’ by Dannijo made with Swarovski Elements

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