Renee Simonsen

Her rise was meteoric. In April 1983, she appeared in the American edition of Vogue and later graced five more American Vogue covers. That same year, she was the cover girl for German Vogue in March, April, and September. She also appeared on the cover of Roxy Music's Atlantic Years album in 1983. In 1985, she tried acting, starring in the Italian film Sotto il vestito niente (released in America as Nothing Underneath), and in 1987 she appeared in the comedy Via Montenapoleone. After taking a break from fashion in 1988, she declined an audition for a Bond Girl role and ended her modeling career in 1989 to study journalism in Denmark. She resumed modeling in 1991 for Vichy cosmetics, became the face of Biotherm in 1993, and also represented Clarins, Maybelline, Covergirl, and Lancel luggage. She even appeared in a swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated.

Beyond modeling, Simonsen is an accomplished author. In October 2003, she published her first children's book, Karlas kabale, followed by Anthony Greenwood in 2006, which was nominated for the Danish book prize "Orla." Her first novel, Tirsdag formiddag, came out in August 2007, and her second, Dømt til Frihed, in 2010. Her biography, co-written with journalist Andreas Fugl Thøgersen, was published in Denmark in 2014. She continues to write a weekly column for the Danish magazine Femina. She holds a degree in psychology, completed in 2002. Born in Aarhus, she worked as a supermarket cashier before her discovery. Her personal life includes an engagement to Duran Duran bassist John Taylor from 1985 to 1989, and she later married Danish rock singer Thomas Helmig in August 2000; they separated in 2014 but reconciled. She has three children: Ulrikke (born 1993), Jens-Kristian (born 1995), and Hugo (with Helmig).