Josephine Skriver

Early life

Skriver was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her mother is an IT analyst and her father is a marine biologist. Her parents are both gay and Skriver and her younger brother, Oliver, were conceived through IVF.

At the age of 15, Skriver was discovered and approached about her modeling potential while on a trip to New York with her soccer team. Shortly thereafter, she was signed by Unique Models, an international modeling agency based in Copenhagen. She was consequently approached by other agencies outside of Denmark, but decided to wait to stay in school. After finishing school, she began pursuing a modeling career in 2011.

Career

Skriver's debut season was Fall/Winter 2011, during which she opened for Alberta Ferretti and closed for Prada. That season, she also walked for many other prominent designers, like Calvin Klein, rag & bone, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, DKNY and Christian Dior.

Since then she has walked in over 300 fashion shows, including Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, D&G, Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Saab, Vera Wang, Balmain, Badgley Mischka, Céline, Christopher Kane, Giambattista Valli, Louis Vuitton, Jil Sander, Nina Ricci, Rochas, Roland Mouret, Max Mara, Phillip Lim, Carolina Herrera, Mugler, Zac Posen, Cushnie et Ochs, Kenneth Cole, Victoria's Secret, IRFE, Guy Laroche, Roberto Cavalli, Emilio Pucci, Trussardi, Emporio Armani, Ports 1961, Alberta Ferretti, Dsquared2, Tom Ford, Barbara Casasola, Matthew Williamson, L'Wren Scott, Jeremy Scott, Thakoon Panichgul, Yigal Azrouël, Monique Lhuillier, Jason Wu, Lanvin, John Rocha, Temperley London, Erdem, Clements Ribeiro, Dennis Basso, Reem Acra, Ralph Rucci, Richard Chai, Akris, Valentin Yudashkin, Hussein Chalayan, Bottega Veneta, Victoria Beckham, See by Chloé, Alexis Mabille, Paco Rabanne, Giambattista Valli, Cacharel, John Galliano, Vanessa Bruno, Moschino, Derek Lam, Joseph Altuzarra, Richard Nicoll, Reed Krakoff, Rodarte, Doo-Ri Chung, Peter Som, Fendi, Giles, Jaeger, Azzedine Alaia, Etro, Stella McCartney and many more.

Throughout her career, she has done ad campaigns for brands such as H&M, Dior, Gucci, Bulgari, DKNY, Michael Kors, Balmain, MAC Cosmetics, Armani Exchange, Karen Millen, Max Mara, TOPTEN, Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Caleres, Tom Ford, Shu Uemura, Andrew Marc, G-Shock, Victoria's Secret and she has been on the cover of and featured in editorials of numerous magazines such as Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, V Magazine, Interview, L'Officiel, Vs., W, Allure, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Brazilian, Spanish and American Vogue as well as Danish, Italian, Brazilian, Swedish, French Elle and UK, Polish, Mexican, Arabian and American Harper's Bazaar, and more.

She has worked with Mario Testino for Michael Kors, Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia, Tim Walker for American Vogue, Greg Kadel for German Vogue, Terry Richardson for H&M and Patrick Demarchelier for Dior.

Skriver has appeared in catalogs and ads for Victoria's Secret and walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show every consecutive year since 2013. In February 2016, it was announced that Skriver was officially one of the brand's contracted Angels.

LGBT advocacy

Skriver has on numerous occasions spoken candidly about LGBT rights and openly discussed her own upbringing with both parents being members of the LGBT community.

In 2015, Skriver was made a celebrity ambassador for the Family Equality Council and its Outspoken Generation Program, which aims to raise awareness about LGBTQ families.

She has said that her ultimate goal is that her story will “not be that interesting soon, because that would mean that society has come to accept LGBT parents to be just as traditional and normal as any other way of having a family.”