Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, September 1, 19501/16Lisa 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, 19612/16Nena 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, 19583/16Anna-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, 19664/16Birgitta 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 Images5/16Maud 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.
Photographed by Alex Chatelain, Vogue, March 15, 19726/16Ingmari Lamy
Born: Stockholm, Sweden
Instagram: @ingmarilamy
A favorite back in the day of photographers Bob Richardson and Sarah Moon, the wild-maned, soulful-eyed Ingmari Lamy was discovered in a Paris nightclub. She became a muse to Kenzo Takada, walking in his debut show, and later helped design the collectsion. “I really am sort of a wood nymph at heart,” says the model, who lived on Formentera sans electricity and “in a really deteriorated castle on the island Storholmen,” before rejoining the fashion game. Now an icon of advanced style, Lamy recently appeared in the Lanvin x H&M campaign, and has an avid Instagram following.
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, February 1, 19717/16Gunilla Lindblad
Born: Vänersborg, Sweden
Vogue covers: 4
Gunilla Lindblad was sought after by designers from the Space Age pioneer André Courrèges to the more playful Kenzo Takada. She was once the face of Chloé and a favorite of Helmut Newton. Vogue often cast her as a haute hippie.
Photographed by Irving Penn, Vogue, September 1, 19718/16Charly Stember
Born: Stockholm
Vogue covers: 3
Ingmari “Charly” Gustavsson (later Stember) had a girl-next-door quality about her. “I’m just a simple, ordinary girl,” she said in 1972, soon after being named one of Revlon’s first Charlie Girls, a pants-wearing icon of the newly independent woman.
Photographed by Mike Reinhardt, Vogue, November 19789/16Lena Kansbod
Discovered working in a restaurant in Stockholm, Lena Kansbod is perhaps most famous for the “Zowie, It’s Maui” Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover that launched her career. From there she landed a spot in Revlon ads, and later made it into Vogue.
Photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Vogue, November 199110/16Emma Sjöberg Wiklund
Born: Stockholm, Sweden
Instagram: @emmaofstockholm
In the 1990s, Emma Sjöberg Wiklund (second from right) was as regular a sight on the Concorde as Linda and Naomi, and appeared in George Michael’s “Too Funky” video. The Swede, who dated Ace of Base’s Ulf Ekberg for years, later channeled her energies into acting, appearing in Luc Besson’s Taxi films.
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, December 198311/16Karin Lund
Karin Lund’s clean-cut looks could evoke the wholesome freshness of the Swedish countryside. From modeling she went into the music industry before founding, with her sister, a successful creative agency in Stockholm.
Photographed by Tom Munro, Vogue, November 200212/16Mini Andén
Born: Stockholm, Sweden
Instagram: @theminianden
Having worked as a model from the age of 10, freckle-faced Suzanne “Mini” Andén now lives far from her native Stockholm in Los Angeles, where, unsurprisingly, she is focusing much of her energy on acting—and her adorable son.
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, April 200413/16Fanny Boström Gentle
Born: Malmö, Sweden
Instagram: @fannygentle
By turns elfin and tomboyish, the diminutive Fanny Boström made a big impact on the runways in the early 2000s. Now an artist, she lives in Brooklyn with fellow model and photographer (and heartthrob) Bill Gentle.
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, June 200414/16Caroline Winberg
Born: Sollentuna, Sweden
Instagram: @carolinewinberg
White-blonde, freckled Caroline Winberg scored big on the day she was scouted riding the subway in Stockholm to soccer practice. Instead of bending it like Beckham, she became a runway regular and got her wings as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. She also segued into acting, attending the 2009 Met Ball on the arm of Bradley Cooper. More recently, she’s become a mother and joined Naomi Campbell on The Face UK.
Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue, April 200615/16Mona Johannesson
Born: Huskvarna, Sweden
Instagram: @monajohannesson
What this horse-crazy “Swedish Kate Moss” has in common with the British supermodel is her small stature and tiny, perfectly chiseled face. When Johannesson is not in the saddle, she’s in front of a lens—frequently for J.Crew.
Photographed by David Sims, Vogue, January 201216/16Frida Gustavsson
Born: Stockholm
Instagram: @fridargustavsson
Doll-like Frida Gustavsson enchanted the world of fashion with her pert nose, perfect pout, and lone beauty mark. Trained as a designer, Gustavsson traded the role of dresser for dressed—for now, that is. She’s said she might like to become a stylist one day.
