Runway

A Celebration of Swedish Models in Vogue

  • swedish models in vogue
    Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, September 1, 1950
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    Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn

    Born: Uddevalla, Sweden
    Vogue covers: 11
    A lithe blonde with a pert, angled nose, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn (née Bernstone) trained as a ballerina and easily transitioned to modeling. Between 1940 and 1952, she appeared on the cover of Vogue 11 times; several of those pictures were taken by Irving Penn, her second husband, whom she met on set for the magazine. In 1949 Time dubbed Fonssagrives-Penn the most successful model of her generation, fashion’s “billion-dollar baby.”

  • Photographed by John Rawlings, Vogue, October 1, 1961
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    Nena von Schlebrügge

    Born: Mexico City
    Vogue covers: 2
    Born in Mexico, Nena von Schlebrügge was the daughter of a Swedish baroness and a German colonel. At 15 she was discovered in Stockholm by the British photographer Norman Parkinson. Von Schlebrügge was briefly married to Timothy “turn on, tune in, drop out” Leary, and she had a role in Ciao, Manhattan! alongside Edie Sedgwick. In 1967 she remarried the Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, with whom she has four children, two of whom, Uma and Dechen, have also modeled for Vogue.

  • Photographed by John Rawlings, Vogue, October 15, 1958
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    Anna-Karin Björck

    Born: Gävle, Sweden
    Vogue covers: 4
    Discovered in a pharmacy in her hometown, Anna-Karin Björck was brought to New York by Eileen Ford. In between assignments she fell for a Harvard man and married him in a swish affair on St. Croix that featured Betsy Pickering, a fellow model, as maid of honor. When Björck remarried in 1980, she became Countess Erne of Crom Castle.

  • Photographed by Bert Stern, Vogue, May 1, 1966
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    Birgitta af Klercker

    Born: Stockholm, Sweden
    Vogue covers: 1
    Not all Swedes are blonde: One of Diana Vreeland’s favorite models was the blue-eyed brunette Birgitta af Klercker. The model, who traveled to Peru for the magazine and famously appeared, oil-and-water-sprayed, in a swimwear sitting for Irving Penn in 1966, used to carry her wigs on assignment in a large Kelly bag. First married to a prince, she later became a decorator and opened an antiques shop in Paris. Fashion has stayed in the family, though: Her nephew runs a menswear line, and her daughter, Natascha Sayn Wittgenstein, has created a line of bathing suits called Tooshie.

  • Photo: Susan Wood / Getty Images
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    Maud Adams

    Born: Lulea, Sweden
    “Looking like the all-American girl is no problem,” said Maud Adams, née Wikström, who was born miles below the Arctic Circle. “I think it’s very easy. You just take off your makeup and have a nice friendly smile.” Discovered in a magazine-sponsored Miss Sweden contest, Adams won a modeling contract that took her to Stockholm, Paris, and New York, where she was signed by Ford. From there she segued into acting, becoming the first woman to play a lead role in two James Bond films.

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