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Friday, July 19, 2013

Fashion model Marie Helvin

Although I dislike the term "supermodel," it might actually apply very appropriately to Marie Helvin.


That should be obvious. :-D

Marie Helvin was a top model in the 1970s, appearing on the cover of the British edition of Vogue numerous times and working together on photographic projects with her then-husband, British photographer David Bailey (he was married to Catherine Deneuve in the late sixties, for those keeping track).  

Though an American by upbringing - she was born in Tokyo to an American serviceman and a Japanese translator and raised in Hawaii - Marie Helvin made a name for herself in London. She married Bailey in 1975 after having done a session with him; the marriage lasted a decade. 


After leaving mainstream modeling, Marie Helvin remained in the U.K.  She became a Jill of all trades, and she mastered just about all of them. She became a broadcaster, covering books, travel, and other subjects, and she also produced a health and fitness video and launched a line of bodywear and swimwear.  She's become something of a fashion institution in the United Kingdom, and she appeared on the cover of the British edition of Vogue as recently as 2007.  She was 55 at the time.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Steve for suggesting I search for Marie on your blog. Indeed you did a post about her and an excellant one at that. Quite a remarkable woman is Marie. I never get tired of seeing her pictures. Hers and another Eurasian model from the 70s/80s named Vivienne Lynne from London who is only known in Europe alas.
    Its so unfortunate that Marie lost a substantial amount of her hard earned money to the Maddof scandal. I read somewhere she said she had to put off retirement and go back to work.

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  2. I hope Marie Helvin is doing better these days . . . a damn shame about what happened. Vivienne Lynne? I'll have to look her up on Google! :-)

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  3. Good luck with research on Vivienne Lynn. Not much about her on Google just some pictures. Her pretty face was hugely successful in the 70s/80s. She was an original Blitz kid during the New Wave era and even dated David Bowie for a shortwhile. Then one day she disappeared from the media scene. I'm told she had a child and now lives a quite life in Sussex England and teaches painting away and far from the madding crowd. There's just this one rare video of her on You Tube. Cheers Steve!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CgsSpaEGr0

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  4. Cool video! Wonderful profile! :-)

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