Quotes from Helena Christensen

I am very much aware of the visual side of things. I do a lot of photography. I often take Polaroids of things that strike me as visually interesting, just to remember them and perhaps use later.

From the minute I wake up until I go to bed I think about food.

There've been times when I've bought a whole pound of cheese and walked down the street and eaten it in one go.

I was once stranded on a broken-down boat in shark-infested waters in the middle of the Indian Ocean for five days before we were rescued while doing a 'Vogue' shoot.

This was all very new to me and I did not want to ruin his film! So we worked hard on that basis of confidence that is needed to collaborate comfortably.

Cheese is one of my great weaknesses, I could eat the stuff by the pound.

I had never done any serious acting before, but I decided that it was a chance that I should take.

I felt like I was in the best photography school in the world - I had Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Richard Avedon and Irving Penn teach me.

A beautiful person is someone who stays true to themselves and their spirit; someone who is self-confident and can make you smile.

When you are modelling, you are creating a picture, a still life, perhaps something like a silent film. You convey emotion but you are only using your body.

So many times I've wanted to crack up, standing there stiff while seven women are crawling round my toes fixing hems and the designer's having a freak-out because the denim cuffs are crooked. I'm on the verge of hysteria.

Harbour Island in the Bahamas is a wonderful little island with beautiful beaches, a great restaurant culture and friendly, welcoming atmosphere.

Some designers retain a sense of humour about what they do, but others are deathly serious and have no life outside of it; they're lying awake night after night constructing dresses in their heads.

You are by yourself for the best years of your life. You sleep in airports. If it doesn't kill you it makes you strong.

I still love taking pictures with Polaroid film. For me, it offers the most beautiful way of capturing reality and transferring it onto a flat piece of paper.

I was born in high heels and I've worn them ever since.

I wasn't worried about turning 40 at all.

Like any woman, I worry about my body.

I want to live to be 120. That's when I will start worrying about my age.

If I have an hour in a city, I go to vintage stores first because it's so much cooler to find a piece that is unique. I love the thought of some girl having worn it before and living her life in it.

It's incredible to have been part of fashion history - my whole career has been one big highlight.

Everything we have is everything we love - it's basically like we picked for our homes and then just put it for sale in a store.

I love playing around with vintage fabrics and lace.

Modelling is a silly, crazy business.