Friday 30th May 2003
At nearly six feet tall, with platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes, Victoria Silvstedt’s physical beauty is celebrated the world over. Devastatingly combined with an incredibly fun and outgoing personality, it is no wonder why Victoria is an international sensation. Not that her rise to celebrity has been an easy one…
Victoria grew up in a close-knit family of five in a small village in Northern Sweden. Complete with the “midnight sun” (it was essentially dark 24 hours a day for three months each year), Victoria was raised with, and maintains, her families’ sensibilities to appreciate discipline, hard work and community. A gifted athlete, Victoria became a world-class member of the Swedish National Ski Team, ranking as high as fourth among her future Olympian teammates in the Super-Giant Slalom.
A devastating shoulder injury prematurely ended Victoria’s Olympic dreams at the age of 16. But that was just the beginning. Although at the time a complete teenage tomboy who had never even worn a pair of high heel shoes, Victoria’s mother and sister secretly entered her into 1993 Miss Sweden Beauty Pageant.
Never backing down from a challenge, the gritty Victoria strapped on heels for the first time in her life and walked tentatively across the pageant stage. But even the ever-prepared Victoria was not prepared when she was declared the winner! The downhill skiing MISS SWEDEN 1993 was on her way to the Miss World Pageant in South Africa!
After the unpolished beauty became a Finalist at the 1993 Miss World Pageant, Victoria was discovered by a Parisian modeling agent and began a career in high fashion working for the highly-selective, fashion giants - Chanel, Christian Dior, Loris Azzaro, Givenchy, Valentino and Giorgio Armani.
It was in the autumn of 1996 when Victoria’s career path took another unexpected turn. Hugh Hefner offered Victoria an opportunity to do a “quick photo shoot” for Playboy. Since Playboy Magazine is not distributed in Sweden and the European equivalents have far less visibility than in the US, Victoria truthfully had no idea what she was about to do. The “quick photo shoot” and “right back to Paris” of late October turned into a December 1996 Playmate of the Month and 1997 Playmate of the Year distinction in 4 short months.
A free-spirited European, Victoria herself is often amazed at the more conservative-minded people’s reactions to a simple set of photos taken six years ago. Never to back down from a challenge, Victoria has worked extremely hard over the last years to “re-invent” herself and burnish the typical playmate image. As with everything that she does, Victoria persevered. Within a year, Victoria not only dropped the playmate stigma, but elevated herself as a world-class, high-fashion model by landing one of the most sought-after modeling contracts in the world – the GUESS? Print Ad and Spokesmodel campaign for 1998.
Victoria still remains a highly visible part of the elite modeling scene. She’s featured on covers and countless celebrity feature interviews/layouts for mainstream magazines such as GQ, MAXIM, FHM, and GEAR magazines both in the United States and in numerous European countries. Victoria’s professionalism, beauty and class have also enabled her to successfully represent a number of major brands as a product spokesperson including Nike, Renault, Coors, Radisson, Killians and Blockbuster.
Victoria has now transitioned from the pre-conceived label of “just another dim supermodel” to media darling in her typically unique fashion. Fluent in four languages and already an established celebrity personality in Europe, Victoria has been steadily working on Italian television and in film, paying her dues and learning the acting trade.
Victoria also released a music CD, GIRL ON THE RUN on the EMI label. Two singles, Hello Hey and Rocksteady Love, were gold records in her beloved Scandinavia. Hello Hey rose to Number 4 on other European charts. The fun, energetic sound of her music is another extension of Victoria’s fun and creative personality.
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David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
