Updated 5/12/22
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On her way to becoming a generational icon, author of children’s books, academic, advocate, and columnist, Renee Simonsen’s life would led her on a journey that not only ran contrary to her communist counterculture upbringing, but would also unfold a triumphant tale of love, self discovery, and meaningful purpose outside of fleeting celebrity and fame.
Born in Aarhus, Denmark, as the second of three sister and having young parents, young Renee felt somewhat at odds with her politically conscious, communist parents, who at times were seemingly more preoccupied with their social activism than spending time with Renee and her sisters:
“My parents started to become politically conscious, and the women’s struggle and communism came into our lives, and then they were very preoccupied with it. So we managed a lot ourselves.”
Dreaming to become a doctor or journalist, as a teen, Renee worked at a bakery, but around the age of 13, Renee parent’s had a divorced, a traumatic event that Renee would describe as having her “whole world shaken,” and a trauma that would propel her to have strong family bonds, later becoming an advocate for children and women.
I can’t sleep at night, I toss and turn
Listening for the telephone
But when I get your call, I’m all choked up
Can’t believe you called my home
And as a matter of fact, it blows my mind
You would even talk to me
Because a girl like you is like a dream come true
A real life fantasy
At the age of 15, Renee had accompanied a friend to a contest for the Ekstra Bladet Magazine “Face of the 80s” competition where Eileen Ford served as a judge. Like Linda Evangelista and Karen Mulder, Renee Simonsen, too came in 2nd place in a extravagant modeling competition. Yet Eileen Ford was deeply moved and took a liken to Renee:
— “She was crazy about me (Eileen Ford), but she thought I was too young so she said, ‘I’ll be back for you.’ I was like, ‘Okay,’ [not thinking much of it], but she did come back and two years later, at 17, reentered. I won the contest in Denmark and they said, ‘Please come to America and enter the “Face of the ’80s” [later known as the Supermodel of the World] contest,’ and I did.”
No matter what your friends try to tell you
We were made to fall in love
And we will be together, any kind of weather
It’s like that, it’s like that
“It was in 1982 at the Beacon Theater, and it was a big experience. Lee Majors, the [Six] Million Dollar Man, was the host of the show, and I remember Irene Cara sang, and someone from the Bee Gees was there. It was really wild.”
Yet, at 17 years old, Renee’s parents, staunch communist and anti capitalist, rejected the whole idea outright, pleading with their daughter to seek a life of intellectual and sociopolitical pursuits: “They are intellectuals, and they were then communists. Entering the world of fashion meant, for them, to become a lackey of capitalism, to enter a universe where profit is the engine.”
One was a communist at the time and the other one was an anarchist, and they thought the modeling business was horrible and superficial, and nothing good could come out of it. So they didn’t think it was a good idea.
Yet after much pleading, doubling the modeling contract that was initially $100,000, and ensuring Renee would stay with Eileen’s family, Ingrid, Renee’s mother, eventually gave into Eileen Ford’s pleas and let her daughter set off to the city of New York!
“My mother didn’t want me to go to New York. I was only 17 and she opposed very much me going. Eileen [offered me] a contract for $100,000, and after my mother said I couldn’t go, she doubled the contract and said, ‘She can live with us.’ In the end my mother gave in and let me go and I moved in with Eileen and Jerry.”
By 1982, Renee joins the Karin Models Agency in Paris and is already doing editorials for Mademoiselle and various international editions of Vogue while landing some of her first big fashion magazine covers for ELLE and Vogue in the same year.
In 1983, Renee hit stardom and saw massive commercial success, doing campaigns for Alessandro, Bloomingdales, Christian Dior, JC Penny, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, Gianni Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent, along with having at least five Vogue covers and scores of editorial work for Cosmopolitan, Haper’s Bazaar, ELLE, and Vogue!
By 1984, Renee Simonsen was a full fledged top model, working from sun up to sun down. She landed five more Vogue covers mostly shot by Bill King and Richard Avedon. “He knew exactly what he wanted, and for a Vogue cover he’d stage everything—he’d put your chin exactly where he wanted it—and then he’d maybe do five or 10 Polaroids and he’d have the cover. It could be a bit intimidating, but he was such a nice man and there was always such a good feel in the studio.”
Every little step I take, you will be there
Every little step I make, we’ll be together
Every little step I take, you will be there
Every little step I make, we’ll be together
–” It was a good ambiance, always very calm, with no music or noise or anything. For the covers he always shot with that huge Polaroid camera and you could kind of see [the results] right away, which was unusual back then. It’s not anymore, now everybody works with a computer in front of them and they can see when they have the picture, which takes some of the magic away. Avedon actually worked like that already.”
Renee would also meet a man who she initially thought was the love of her life in John Taylor, bassist for Duran Duran in 1984. Although the two cared for each other deeply in their five years together, they ultimately wanted different things in life:
–When we were together I always thought it would be forever. I never doubted that we weren’t going to be together. For me, it was definitely true love. “When it did come to an end, it was the biggest disappointment of my life. But it had to come to an end, because we were going in different directions. He wants to be pop star, and he wants to be recognized; and I don’t think that’s such a big deal. I think that there are many more important things in life than to have the recognition of other people who mean nothing to you anyway. And that’s what he wants and he wanted me to be a part of that.
For the next five years, Renee would go on to grace the covers of Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, Amica, Mademoiselle, Vogue, Sports Illustrated and various European magazines while being the face for major 80s brands such as AVON, Cover Girl, JC Penny, L’Oréal, Revlon, Vichy, Garnier, and Maybelline.
Yet, by the age of 24, despite all of her accomplishments in an illustrious seven year career, Renee dealing with major burnout and feeling lost, called it quits, relocating to a Kibbutz in Israel:
“One day, when I was 24, I suddenly had enough. I couldn’t stand being touched all the time. I wanted something other than the superficial relationships that one forms during the photo sessions, I needed other values; I didn’t want to be obsessed with my appearance anymore. Because, surprisingly, I who have great confidence, I had become, over the years, less and less sure of myself, more and more fragile. I felt uprooted.”
I can’t think too straight, I’m all confused
You must’ve put a thing on me
Because there aren’t no words that can explain
I’m livin’ in ecstasy
And you can best believe, I got ya back
You never have to feel no pain
‘Cause I’d dedicate my life to you
You’ll never look for love again
For the next couple of months, Renee and her sister spent their days in a commune in Israel, waking up at 5:00 o’clock in the morning, wearing work clothes, and picking fruit. Although some would consider her departure concerning, Renee saw the experience as a much needed reset from her hectic modeling life.
“To me it seemed like heaven, not having to please anybody. I just sort of looked at my sister and said, “I want to come. I want something else in my life, I want to be normal. I want to be picking oranges and have nobody looking at me and nobody taking pictures of me and nobody trying to style me to be something I’m not.”
After her time in Israel, Renee returned home to Copenhagen, where she would recapture her two biggest passions in life, family and intellectualism:
“I resumed my studies. I graduated and started studying psychology. Learning made me a hundred times happier than posing. It gave meaning to my life.”
Renee did return to modeling occasionally throughout the 90s and 2000s, but it’s something she views more as a past life, now Renee is an accomplished author with at least 24 children’s books to her name, an academic who completed her baccalaureate, studying children psychology, inspiring her even more to become an author and advocate.
No matter what your friends try to tell ya
We were made to fall in love
And we will be together, any kind of weather
It’s like that, it’s like that
Renee’s story is so incredible. From a country Danish girl with communist anarchist parents to high fashion’s face of the 1980s, and ultimately pursuing education and advocacy for children, there’s probably no other figure in modeling that has more of a transformative journey.
Just looking at the fashion covers Renee graced in the 80s, gives you such a feeling of nostalgia, glee, and wonderment. When you think of the 80s, references to Back To The Future, Star Wars, Indiana Johns, the music of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Phil Collins, or books from Stephen King, surely spring to mind.
Yet Renee’s style of modeling encapsulated the essence of that magical era so much in her colorful garbs, wonderfully exaggerated facial expressions, and a smile and gaze that magnetically captivated and expressed profound joy in life. Astonishingly, Renee readily admits she knew nothing of modeling or posing when it came to what she did:
“I didn’t know anything about posing, so I just did something.”
Every little step I take, you will be there
Every little step I make, we’ll be together
Every little step I take, you will be there
Every little step I make, we’ll be together
Renee has long since moved on from her title as “Face of the 80s” and modeling career. Her story highlights the often overlooked tradeoffs of fame and celebrity and losing yourself in the pursuit of media image.
Even today with burgeoning social media and the public’s desire for another viral star, so many still get swept away in status and appearance, just to overlook everyday things outside of fame that could enrich our lives. It’s so remarkable a person in Renee’s position could walk away from all of it for true happiness and purpose.
More than a smile that still electrifies or an indelible face of a beloved decade, Renee’s iconography and spirit still dazzles fashion fans even decades later. Yet her journey of self discovery and love of education is an even more profound bookend of a wonderful life. A lover, author and intellectual who’s still penning her thesis to the story of life with all its twist and turns, yet and still, she tackles it with grace, the wonderful Renee Simonsen.
Super Love Unknown 
Sources:
(n.d.). (2004, October 10). Danish Berlingske Tidende.
Le Floc’hmoan, A. (2002, July 15). Destin De Top Renee Simonsen Le Sourire Des. Elle France. pg, 45-50.
Borrelli-Persson, L. (2018, April 13). Catching Up With Renée Toft Simonsen, “Face of the ’80s” Modeling Contest Winner and 5-Time Vogue Cover Girl. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/catching-up-with-renee-simonsen-face-of-the-80s-contest-winner-vogue-cover-girl-turned-psychologist-writer
Le Floc’hmoan, A. (1996). Renee Simonsen Maakt Comeback. Elle TopModel Netherlands. pg, 83-86.
missparker7. (2008, May 22). Renee Simonsen interview 1999. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/qw_nkxigoYo
Bott, D. (2004, December). Renee Simonsen. Votre Beaute France. pg, 51.
silentwords621. (2007, July 22). Renee Simonsen Hello! Interview (’90). https://duranduranboard.proboards.com/thread/7704/rene-simonsen-hello-interview-90
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