Helena Christensen in front of the Manhattan Bridge
Spring betrayed us. A snowstorm got in the way of the journey that would take us to meet her In New York. The traveler's nightmare: canceled flights, overbooked planes, hotels without availability... We armed ourselves with patience and were forced by destiny to make a stopover of 24 hours in London to direct us next to Philadelphia and get on a train that would take us to the Big Apple, leaving us only eight hours to prepare for his presence.
And then... she came. And with her, the sun, the good weather and the true promises of spring, those that melt ice, chase away rains and gradually begin to undress cabinets and smiles before the imminent arrival of the longer days.
She, Helena Christensen, enters one of the suites in the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Hotel (the trendy hotel), and she stops in awe at the sights. To our left, the Statue of Liberty; on the right, the Brooklyn bridge.
A 90 degree tour of the most envied skyline of the city. her city. “I have been here 18 years. I lived in Denmark until I was 20, and when I started working I moved to Paris. It really is the city that never sleeps, always So vibrant and electric ready to welcome anyone who comes from abroad and who wants to make it their own. It's up to you to enter and let yourself be absorbed by your energy or see it calmly from a distance, ”she says.
She allows herself to be absorbed from her house WestVillage, home she shares with her son Mingus Lucien Reedus, fruit of her relationship with the actor Norman Reedus, better known as Daryl Dixon in the series The Walking Dead. When she decides to watch it all from the background, she moves into her home in The Catskills, in the suburbs of New York.
“The harshness of nature it's just a few miles off the tarmac, and it's just the balance I need. It's my bubble. It is the place where I unite with nature swimming in its rivers, letting myself get lost in its forests...”, she defines her second home with affection.
Helena Christensen running through the streets of the Chelsea neighborhood
"What's in a name? What we call a rose would have the same fragrance with any other name”, he said. Juliet to Romeo to break down boundaries and reap love between Capulets and Montagues.
in the idyll between fashion and catwalk, a name is everything and it was with them that she began the "new" era of top models. Now we have Jenners, Hadids, Gerbers, but nothing would have been possible without the original tops, the ones that brought models out of anonymity and confirmed that they were more than just a pretty face. Schiffer, Bruni, Evangelista, Campbell, Turlington, Crawford, Macpherson, Christensen... catwalk goddesses who made history and opened the doors of success without paradigms to become muses of meat bone of firms and designers.
But where does it go from there? how do you keep a name at the top and an image that lasts without time daring to leave it in oblivion? For Helena, she is accomplished by living on her own terms, not the fashion ones. Although it is those canons that still try to define her, stalking her with each year that she turns.
The Empire Dinner restaurant, one of his favorites
To this day, they are fifty springs those that accompany her and she continues to stay away from those judgmental eyes that are reluctant to see a woman of her caliber grow old from her and compare her to the old Helena ... when no past tense is better.
Her beauty still reigns in her, her body is still slender and her ideas tread more firmly, giving her the necessary independence to pursue the dreams that coexist with her career: photography and Staerk&Christensen , firm that she founded together with her best friend, the stylist Camilla Staerk.
“We met 18 years ago, when I co-founded nylon magazine and I had to take photos of her for one of our reports. Since then we are inseparable. We just launched our shoe collection and glasses and jewelry, furniture, lamps and rugs will soon arrive. But we are going little by little”, says Camilla.
In collaboration with the Australian brand Paired, responsible for executing her designs, the glasses (around **$260)** are a mix of vintage structures, subtly oversized , modern and with a silhouette very organic.
“We are inspired by the birds during the flight, in their freedom and autonomy. Especially in the swallow –one of the national birds of Denmark–, whose silhouette is glimpsed with golden touches”, says Helena excitedly when detailing how the ideas for each creation.
that same collaboration with Paired It provided him with a sporadic stay in Sydney to promote the brand that left its mark on him. As much as to prepare her return as soon as possible.
“I'm planning on going back and doing nothing but surfing,” she says. Are you good at surfing?, we ask. "In my mind I've always been wonderful," she replies with a laugh as she eats her breakfast in her hotel room: Provenance house berry ginger granola with roasted almonds, oatmeal, açai and White Mustache yogurt.
"I have one obsession with the sea If I'm nervous or can't sleep, I close my eyes and transport myself to the water. For me to be a part of waves it is a realization.”
Bench overlooking the Hudson Pier, where Helena often goes with her dog Kuma for a run
Modeling, entrepreneurship... and we have one thing left to cover to close the circle that makes up the current life of our hostess: photography, his passion since long before being a model. “I was always fascinated photojournalism. One of the trips that has marked me the most was the one I made last year with UNRWA (the UN agency for Refugees) to Ukraine.
"It was absolutely sobering to be able to talk to the elderly people who were rescued and who are still living in the most affected areas. It was the work that has given me the most emotion and with which I have been most committed. i learned so much traveling together with experts, the same ones that helped me capture the most intimate stories from those who were willing to talk to us, that it was a gift and a privilege to be able to photograph it.” there you have it, completed circle.
The Secret Garden next to St. Luke's Church
***** _This report was published in **number 118 of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (June)**. Subscribe to the printed edition (11 printed issues and a digital version for €24.75, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website) and enjoy free access to the digital version of Condé Nast Traveler for iPad. The June issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device. _