Beauty That Runs Chest-Deep: Helena Christensen’s Fight Against Breast Cancer

By Jeannie Zonneveld

With great beauty comes great opportunity; no matter how that beauty is expressed, it affords the chance for change. One individual who has seized this opportunity with vigor is Helena Christensen, former Victoria Secret’s Angel, model, and photographer. Taking advantage of her natural allure, this Danish beauty has garnered international fame for being a face that has launched many fashion campaigns. 

Helena Christensen in 1996 (by Herb Ritts). 

Helena Christensen for Victoria's Secret
with her angels Tyra Banks, Daniela Pestova,
Stephanie Seymour, and Karen Mulder in the late 1990s

With a sensational modeling career tucked under her belt, Christensen has branched out and effectively encompassed all facets of glamour by launching her own fashion line, Christensen & Sigersen, as well as her own lingerie collection, called “Helena Christensen for Triumph” for the UK brand line. With such an undeniable presence in the fashion industry, Christensen continues to amaze with her ability to express her views of beauty through her amazing photography, and her active participation in the fight against breast cancer. 

Leif Sigersen and Helena Christensen in Their Boutique

If her careers in photography and modeling have taught Christensen anything, it is that a picture is worth a thousand words. Using her beauty as an asset to speak out to the public, Christensen has been working with different groups and companies such as Bali and Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) to raise awareness and money for the continued battle against breast cancer. This simple act of using her fame to promote such a great cause attests to Helena Christensen’s incredible depth, and proves that this model’s beauty is not simply skin-deep, but is as powerful inside as it is outside. 

Helena Christensen Supporting FTBC

When she is not taking the world by storm with her industrious and charitable careers, Christensen is still working around the clock as a full-time mother to her son, Mingus Lucien Reedus. Showing that she is as dedicated at home as she is at work, she has stated in one interview that she is a “stay-at-home mom when I’m in NY and enjoying every second of it. And when I’m away for work, I put all my energy and effort into that,” always taking advantage of the moment and truly living it. 

Helena Christensen with her Son Lucien Reedus

Still avidly working in the fashion industry and enjoying the fruits of her labor, Christensen is a woman who understands both sides of the camera, and is able to express her beauty on either side of it. It is this unique perspective that separates Christensen from other supermodels, and makes her that much more fascinating as an individual. Her involvement with FTBC, and other companies, really speaks volumes to her character, and shows how great beauty can make great changes happen, if you are willing to make them.

Helena Christensen Today
By Xavi Gordo in May 2013 for Elle Spain