Model Renée Simonsen Was Once The 'Face Of The Eighties' — What Does She Look Like Now?
Those who grew up in the '80s might remember Danish supermodel Renée Simonsen. At 17, Simonsen shot to fame after winning the international Ford Models "Face of the Eighties" contest in New York in 1982. In the years that followed, her modeling career landed her on the covers of magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, and Sports Illustrated, as well as a short-lived movie career. As the world grew increasingly fond of the young model, she also became the face of several major beauty brands, including Maybelline, CoverGirl, Garnier, and L'Oréal. An icon in her own right, Simonsen remains one of the most successful models of the '80s.
After eight years in the bustling New York fashion scene, Simonsen decided to step away and return to her native Denmark. "I wanted something else. I wanted to be either a journalist or a psychologist," she told Aarhus University Newsroom. Simonsen subsequently completed a degree in psychology in 2002 and went on to become a successful children's book author. She has since kept a low profile and avoids the spotlight, prompting many to wonder what she looks like today. Now in her 60s, the former model seems less concerned with maintaining her once-iconic supermodel image, and thanks to social media, fans can keep up with the prize-winning Danish writer. Below is a May 2026 Instagram post showing Simonsen looking radiant as ever, confronting aging with confidence.
The real reason Renée Simonsen walked away from modeling
After achieving massive success as a supermodel in the '80s, Simonsen left fans puzzled when she abruptly retired at the height of her career, but according to her, it was to preserve her mental health. "My time as a model gave me an anxiety disorder," she told the Aarhus University Newsroom. Her struggles with anxiety ultimately inspired her to pursue a career in psychology. "I experienced mental illness myself, and that made me want to study what mental illness actually is," she explained. "It's the classic story of a psychology student who's grappling with something or other herself."
Back in 1988, the then-rising star was feeling the pressures of stardom took a break by living in a kibbutz for several months. "I needed a break to think about things — to evaluate my life and my relationship and decide what I wanted to do with myself," she said in a 1990 Hello! Magazine interview. "And then when I got back, I knew I didn't want to go back to modeling." By then, Simonsen realized modeling no longer fulfilled her. "Certainly [modeling] wasn't enough, there's not that much to it. I'm not saying it's an easy job, because it's not, but it doesn't have much value," she explained. "I started to lose my real personality. All of a sudden, all there was [was] this model, and that wasn't me. It wasn't what I wanted to be, or what I wanted to do with my life."