InStyle‘s August issue is all about “Badass Women” and celebrating those who “get things done.” It includes Serena Williams, Monica Lewinsky and many fashion industry vets like supermodel Helena Christensen, who put on the same Thierry Mugler metal bikini she first wore in 1991 and hit the streets of N.Y.C. to show it off. And really, what’s more badass than that?
The 49-year-old supermodel was photographed all over the city wearing an array of sexy, plunging designer swimsuits as on-lookers walk back and forth in the background. And one such suit was the metal Thierry Mugler number she first wore 27 years ago (see a photo here).
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“It was a tight squeeze then and it’s a tight squeeze now but I did it,” Christensen said on Instagram, posting her unbelievable then-and-now photos.
So how did she psych herself up to wear next-to-nothing outside all day? “We all look more or less the same, and we all have our bodies and body issues, so I thought, ‘Just get with it,’” she said in the feature.
Having been in the industry over 30 years, she’s used to crazy out-of-the-ordinary work days and happily embraces them. “Even though it can be awkward and uncomfortable, it adds something to my life,” she said. “I like what [modeling] adds. I think it’s important to try all kinds of things in our relatively short lives.”
She had another crazy experience last year when she joined her fellow supers, Carla Bruni, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer on the Versace runway to pay tribute to the late Gianni Versace on the 20th anniversary of his death.
“I thought my phone was malfunctioning,” she said after getting 30,000 new Instagram followers overnight. “It was so much bigger than I had imagined. Afterward the other girls from the show were just standing there with tears in their eyes and hugging us. It became very emotional. I hope that Gianni [Versace] felt that energy coming from earth. He definitely would have.”
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In addition to being badass enough to sport the same swimsuit she first wore 27 years ago, she’s a photographer, co-founder and creative director of Nylon magazine, a shopkeeper and now runs a creative agency with her designer friend, Camilla Stærk.
So what’s Christensen’s advice for unleashing your inner badass? “Try your best. Just make that effort,” she said. “Be fricking cool. It’s really not that hard.”
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