Helena Christensen On Skinny Jeans & Collaborating With Rolla’s

HELENA CHRISTENSEN is a straight shooter when it comes to jeans. She “always, always” washes them; “never” buys into denim trends, preferring enduring nostalgia over of-the-moment silhouettes; and wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of skinny jeans.
“Ah no,” the legendary Danish model and photographer deadpanned when asked about whether she’d ever had a skinny jean moment during her fashion evolution. “I can definitely answer that with a big no.”

“It’s just not me to wear something like skinny jeans,” she elaborated, before returning to the positively infectious personality I was so struck by within the first few seconds of our WhatsApp call. “But I think it looks great when I see someone wearing them.”

As a member of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” of ’90s supermodels — alongside the equally iconic Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Elle Macpherson, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer — I’m quite sure Christensen would also look great in one of fashion’s most confronting and divisive silhouettes. “I’m just more of a roomy clothes girl,” the Manhattan-dweller concluded, pointing out the “immediate claustrophobia” of having to perform that all-too-familiar exaggerated dance to squeeze into each skinny leg and zip up.

While skinny jeans are clearly out of the question, Christensen was nonetheless up for a casual chat — away from the hyper-vigilant ears of publicists or supervisors. While most celebrity interviews are a tightly contained situation with representatives listening in, in this instance, it was just the two of us on the call as she strolled to an appointment. “I don’t want people listening in! It should just be you and I having a chat,” the mother-of-one joked after I expressed my surprise. It’s this laidback and down-to-earth attitude — very Australian-adjacent, in some ways — which makes Christensen the perfect ambassador and “muse” for one of our best-loved denim brands: ROLLA’S.

Related: Eight of the iconic supermodels then and now

“They approached me and asked if I would be part of their new campaign and I was like, ‘Hell yeah!’ I love Australia, I love Australian people and I love Australian design,” the supermodel, who famously dated late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence between 1991-1995, enthused. “I think [Australian fashion] is very cool, and there are a lot of elements which remind me of Danish design,” she continued, comparing the similar effortlessness of dress — a sentiment I’ve also heard from Christensen’s longtime friend and fellow Dane, Anine Bing, years previously.

Authentically Christensen, the new campaign sees the supermodel (renowned for walking in Versace’s Fall/Winter 1992/’93 show in that bondage dress, co-founding NYLON magazine, and starring in Chris Isaak’s iconic black-and-white music video for his 1991 track, “Wicked Games”) effortlessly fuse her own cool girl aesthetic with ROLLA’S retro-chic spirit.

Never one to take a back seat, Christensen styled each vintage-inspired denim look with her best friend and stylist of 25 years Camilla Staerk, incorporating personal wardrobe pieces and heirlooms, such as a treasured scarf passed down from her Danish grandmother — giving the campaign an extra special and authentic touch. She also handpicked the photographer, Emma Beiles, for the occasion. “It was just a really fun day and so inspiring. I love the campaign we ended up with, it’s just so fresh and real and very much me,” she said.

I FOUND a really cool pair of VINTAGE JEANS, and that was IT. There was NO turning back.

What else is “very” Christensen? Baggy jeans, “either so slouchy and roomy that they hang on your hips or a high rise, straight leg,” she explained.

“I just like the way a lot of men’s clothing is designed. It feels less restrictive, and I like that masculine feeling,” she added, noting her sartorial love for balancing the grit with the soft, loose with the fitted — stylistic decisions most on par with today’s moto boho and Y2K trends. “The combination of, say, a beautiful old Victorian shirt, which has lots of lace and beautiful details, then paired with a big old pair of baggy jeans… I just love that mix,” she continued. “But that’s what so fun about dressing up, you can do whatever the hell you want to every single day. It’s your own little universe.”

Christensen admits she was a late bloomer in her love of wearing jeans — she surprisingly only started rotating the staple in her mid-30’s, when “I think I found a really cool pair of vintage jeans, and that was it,” she explained. But since then, she’s certainly come to appreciate jeans as a wardrobe essential. She knows how to style them, and knows how to treat them — for her, that means washing them “hard” every now and then so they “swing just a little bit,” and avoids ironing them to give a more “natural” shape. And like fine wine, she knows jeans only get better with age.

“They just look so cool on any body type, any person, any personality. I mean, you walk down the street, which I’m doing right now, and I’m looking around, and there’s like 10 people I’m passing wearing denim in their own personal and cool way,” she continued. “You can literally wear a pair till the day you die.”

Related: Nine best barrel-leg jeans to live in all year long

Shop the Rolla’s x Helena Christensen capsule collection here.