Freja Beha Erichsen: tomboy to top model

Spotted at the age of 15, the sinuous Copenhagen beauty is just about the most in-demand woman on the catwalk - her celebrated tattoos notwithstanding
Erichsen in Yves Saint Laurent. Stylist: Gillian Wilkins. Hair: Syd Hayes at Premier Hair and Make-up. Make-up: Lauren Parsons at Premier Hair and Make-up
Erichsen in Yves Saint Laurent. Stylist: Gillian Wilkins. Hair: Syd Hayes at Premier Hair and Make-up. Make-up: Lauren Parsons at Premier Hair and Make-up
ADAM WHITEHEAD

Freja Beha Erichsen was walking with her mother, Lise, through Copenhagen when a taxi shuddered to a standstill. From it popped a keen-eyed catwalk scout. He ran up to them and asked whether Freja would like to become a model. “And,” says Erichsen, “he had only seen me from behind. Although obviously I was tall and skinny. My body hasn’t changed much since.”

Even if you don’t know who Erichsen is, odds on you will have seen her, and her vertically blessed, horizontally challenged frame, before. One of fashion’s most in-demand models (currently No 2 in the models.com rankings after Dutch blonde robo-bombshell Lara Stone), she is plastered on buses and billboards across the world for H&M. In glossy fashion mags, Erichsen stares up at