Helena Christensen has had her eye on the catwalk for decades, but these days she’s more interested in the new girls emerging on it than joining them herself. ‘I’ve been photographing all the time that I’ve been modelling so I’m super excited about every new girl that comes out’ she told us at the launch of her third lingerie collection for Triumph at London’s Fenwick this week. ‘There are so many girls that I want to work with’, she continued. ‘Every time I see a new face I’m like “I have to find out what her name is and who she’s with!”’. 

Of the new school of models coming through she says, ‘they’re inspiring, those girls - they all have interesting personalities and a lot of them are actually hardcore ambitious girls’. She praises young girls who ‘save up money, pay for their college funds’. She notes that the fashion industry ‘is so wonderful and inspiring but it’s a beautiful thing for a young kid, to be able to save up money to set up for life - that’s the bottom line’.

The two models who have caught Helena’s attention most are Andreea Diaconu and Cameron Russell, who between them already have a rosta of campaigns, including Prada and Gucci, that reads like a buying list for Net-a-Porter. Here’s why she loves them, and what you need to know… 

Andreea Diaconu  

'She’s super beautiful'. 

The Romanian model is only 22, but in the 11 years since she was scouted at a modelling competition with her friend, she's become one of the most in-demand models around, appearing in nine Ralph Lauren campaigns in the last four years. 

She starred alongside Milla Jovovich and Lou Doillon in the lookbook for H&M's much anticipated collaboration with Isabel Marant. 

Andreea is the face of Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Belstaff  and is one of H&M's 'new icons' this season. 

Cameron Russell

'She’s a really beautiful girl, but also awesome, I couldn’t agree with more with her TED talk'. 

Cameron was so interested in politics from an early age, that when she was ten, she arranged to meet Bill Clinton via friends who worked on his presidential campaign.

She went on to study economics and political science at Columbia University in New York. 

She has starred in multiple campaigns for both H&M and Prada, for whom she is also a catwalk regular. 

Check out the Helena Christensen's latest collection for Triumph now.