The Fashion Spot

With her striking Danish features and penetrating eyes, supermodel Lykke May Andersen is hard to miss.  Just ask all the guys who became devoted, lovesick fans after seeing her tanned, lithe 5`10 frame splashed across the pages of Sports Illustrated Swimwear Issues. Though she is best known for her Victoria’s Secret campaign and the 2003 and 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimwear Issues, May Andersen has also graced the covers of Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Glamour Italia, just to name a few. And for the last decade she has been a consistent presence on the runway for such major designers as Mark Jacobs, Paco Rabanne, and John Galliano.

If that wasn’t enough, May Andersen has now added the title of designer to her list of accomplishments. With collaborators Jesper Skade and Jakob Celik, May has developed a hot new line of jeans and sportswear that speaks to the active woman’s need for simple, fashion-forward, affordable clothes.

Lykke May Andersen took time out of her busy schedule to talk to me about her life, modeling and her new creative venture, Chick With Guns.

You were discovered on the streets of Copenhagen when you were 13, could you talk about what was it like to begin modeling at such a young age?

I was only 13 years old when I discovered by this photographer. My parents wanted me to wait until I was least 15, but he got me signed with an agency at 13 and my parents reluctantly approved. Looking back, I realize that I was a very mature 13-year old. My family always traveled a lot, so being away from home in different cities was not unfamiliar to me. Even though I was quite young, I think I handled it very well.

The tabloids have had a field day with your off-camera life as well as some very interesting runway model moments. Could you talk about a particular incident where you were supposedly tear gassed by an animal right’s activist on the runway in Paris?

That story was totally out of context and completely distorted out of recognition. I was walking in Paris with a friend and his camera crew. We ended up in a seedy neighborhood where these prostitutes and street thugs were fighting and spraying mace. At the same time, animal activists were protesting a runway show that used fur products. So, the incident on the street got combined with the runway protest, and some how I was placed in the center of this trumped up controversy with me being sprayed at a runway show by animal activists. At any rate, it never happened the way the media reported it to have happened.

It has been said that you have some anger management issues, could you talk about that?

The temper tantrum stories stem from an incident that happened on a flight to Miami. While I was sleeping, this flight attendant abruptly adjusted my seat to the upright position, as we were about to land. I was so jarred that I reacted by pushing back, and when we landed the flight attendant called the airport police and said that I had attacked him on the plane. The police locked me up for two days in Miami. The airline dropped the charges, but the police reported that I had an anger problem. Of the course, the media got word of the incident and blew it way out of proportion.

Are you still modeling?

Yes, I do still model. I have taken long breaks so that I could work on other projects, like Chick With Guns.

You have now added fashion designer to your many talents. Why the move to designing clothes?

It all started with two friends who had the idea to make Danish jeans. And since I am a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl, I thought that it would be an interesting project to work on. We worked on the prototype, and a whole new world opened up to me. It was much harder than I thought. I had to learn about the fit of jeans, marketing, buttons, and stretch percentage. But I am happy I made this move.

In 2007 with partners Gabriel Nigro and Jesper Skade, you launched the ‘Mayday,’ jean. Did you feel there was something missing in the market for women that necessitated launching a new jean?

There had never been a major Danish jean line before our brand. There had been smaller Danish brands, but they were localized. We wanted a brand that was current and very hip. The rest of the world appreciates Danish design, so why not bring that aesthetic to jeans and sportswear? Gabriel Nigro has moved on to other projects and we have a new collaborator, Jakob Celik.
 

Why did you call your clothing line Chick With Guns?

A graphic designer friend of mine came up with the logo, which is a girl with guns. My business partners and me loved the logo, and thought it was very catchy and we decided to have the name of the brand match the logo design. So that is how we created the name Chick With Guns.

When I was in Copenhagen one of the things that impressed me was that the architecture has clean, simple lines, and that Copenhagen is one of cleanest cities I have ever been in. How does that aesthetic reflect in your designs?

I really appreciate that tidiness when I go back. Everything works pretty well in Copenhagen. Trains run on time, and our political system is quite good. Sixty Minutes did a survey and found that Danes are some of the happiest people on the continent. I try to reflect that simplicity of style and with clean lines in my clothes. My clothes are well-fitting without a lot of embellishment.

You marry the traditional Danish aesthetic of simplicity in design with rocker bravado. Why that combination, and how is it expressed in your collection?

Our collection is for the independent women. Our pieces are basic and you can mix it up with whatever you already have in your wardrobe. You can take the T-shirts, the denim and the leather and make it your own. Rock and roll, when you pare it down, is very basic, just tight jeans and T-shirts.

You are featured wearing the clothes on your website.  Why you and not another model?

Well I am the in-house model.  In fact, I am the in-house everything.

You are also using the hot trend of exposed zipper in your designs, why?

We attempt to use popular trends and adapt it to our collection, but with our own twist. I have always loved the zipper look.

What does Chick With Guns retail for?

Our price points are pretty low which fits into these challenging economic times. Our T-shirts retail from $60 to $80, and our jeans retail around $150, with our leather jeans retailing at around $300.

What’s next for you?

I am having a blast working on this brand. I want this to be my life. I have been designing Chick With Guns since 2006, and in spite of the economic downturn the brand is doing well.

Chick With Guns can be found in stores in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. In the U.S., Chick With Guns can be found at Arcade, Diavolina and Madison stores throughout Los Angeles. For more information about Chick With Guns, go to chickwithguns.com.

Images courtesy of May Andersen.