Kirsten Owen

Kirsten Owen (born November 22, 1970) is an Canadian-born English fashion model.

After being scouted in Toronto,^[4] Owen began modelling at the age of 16. In 1987 she appeared on the cover of Elle in three different countries (Spain,^[5] France^[6] and Italy^[7]). After this amazing breakthrough, however, Owen did not immediately launch herself into modelling. In fact, it was two more years before she got another big break, appearing on the cover of the French version of Marie Claire magazine in July and October 1989 and on the cover of i-D magazine^[8] in 1990. Later that year she also got work walking in a show in Milan for Jill Sander while in early 1991 she was once again featured in Elle, this time in an editorial.^[9] After this it would be another five years before Owen would work again.

When Owen once again began working it was in a show in Milan for Prada in February 1996. After this, things began to pick up as she became the face of Helmut Lang^[10] and was again featured in an Elle editorial in January 1997. A month later Kirsten found herself in demand as she walked in shows in Paris and New York for Chloe, Dries van Noten, Yohji Yamamoto, Calvin Klein, and Helmut Lang.^[11] That same year Owen was featured in an editorial of Vogue Italia^[12] and appears on the cover^[13] of the same magazine two months later. In 1999 she continued this success by becoming the face of Fendi.^[14] Kirsten Owen was also on the catwalk in Milan and Paris of September that year for Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, and Louis Vuitton.

Then, at a time when most models would be pulling out of the business Kirsten Owen found herself getting even more work. She signed a contract to become the face of Emanuel Ungaro,^[15] was in a print advertisement for Donna Karan,^[16] and was in a French Vogue editorial. Her career continued to rise as over the next three years she walked for the likes of Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Moschino, Rochas, and Burberry all in the early months of 2001.

After having such a rising career in 2001 Kirsten Owen pulled back out of the modelling world, only doing a couple of jobs in 2002 and 2003. Three years later, in May 2006, she returned to the catwalk (at the age of thirty-six) to close the Paris show for Kenzo.^[17] One might think that guest appearances like this would be all that was left of a modelling career that began nearly twenty years earlier, but they would have underestimated Kirsten Owen. While it did appear that she took some type of retirement break, she made a huge comeback in 2008 when she returned to modelling as a primary face for Givenchy.^[18] She also replaced the well known Victoria Beckham to become the new face of Marc Jacobs^[19] and signed on with Calvin Klein^[20] to work on his new fragrance campaign “one.” Not only this, but Owen has also made an appearance on the runway in New York and has been featured in an editorial for i-D.

She appeared again on the Joe Fresh runway during Toronto fashion week 2010.^[4]

References