Karen Elson (born 14 January 1979 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England) is a British model and singer.
Her trademarks are her red hair and her eyebrows, which fashion photographer Steven Meisel once persuaded her to shave off.
Elson has walked the runways of many top fashion designers including Marc Jacobs (which she did while pregnant), Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.
She has appeared in international campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Christian Dior, Burberry and Chanel, to name a small number.
She has also been on the covers of many international magazines such as Vogue, W, Dazed & Confused, Numéro, Marie Claire, Elle, and others.
n 1998 she won model of the year at the VH1 fashion awards (the year after Kate Moss won).
In 2005, Elson won the British Fashion Award for Best Model, over fellow catwalkers Lily Donaldson and Danny Beauchamp.
Elson has been (and still is) quite vocal about how damaging the fashion industry can be to young women and their body image.
In 2002 she admitted that she had struggled with eating disorders since the age of seven but her issues with food increased once her career took off.
Elson is currently a creative director and performer with the New York City based political cabaret troupe The Citizens Band, appearing with them at various nightlife hotspots as well as the downtown power-house gallery Deitch Projects.
Critical response to Karen's performances have been unequivocally positive, with the press frequently commenting on her striking vocal skills.
As one of the leaders of The Citizens Band she has performed a variety of songs including well received covers of The Velvet Underground, Kurt Weill, Elvis Presley, Mimi and Richard Fariña, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Marlene Dietrich.
Her cover of The Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" is available on The Citizen Band's MySpace page.
Short samples of her performances are available on the troupe's website as well.
She has also appeared in many short films and videos, including the music video for The White Stripes's "Blue Orchid", directed by Floria Sigismondi.
She has also appeared in fashion films such as Cyril Guyot's Tom Ford Is Missing,[10] Steven Meisel and Darren Lew's War Opera, Nick Knight's Andy Warhol-inspired series More Beautiful Women, Craig McDean's 48 Girls, Thomas Lenthal's Yves Saint Laurent Printemps-Été 2006, Tim Walker's Pictures, and Bruce Weber's Petit Fleur, Harlequin, Voodoo Daddy, Closer Walk With Thee and Karen's Boogie (all films were made in conjunction with W as a tribute to New Orleans).
Elson has been featured in commercials for Max Azria's BCBG line and Kose cosmetics.
She has also appeared in the short film Lay Down Lean, a project by the experimental filmmaking team The Belles Of The Black Diamond Field.
Elson has contributed to Nick Knight's SHOWstudio.com since 2002.
Among her contributions is a video of her singing Danzig's "Devil's Plaything" with Melissa Auf der Maur at the Chelsea Hotel.
She also contributed to Knight's project "Moving Fashion" with a black and white video of herself in a sequined gown, perched upon a swing.
The images were accompanied by Elson playing the autoharp and singing a verse of Marlene Dietrich's "Falling In Love Again."
As of October 23, 2008 Elson has been managing a vintage boutique in Nashville, Tennessee with Venus & Mars' Amy Patterson.
The boutique is called Venus & Mars- The Showroom and features "high end rare vintage garments and adornments to cheap and cheerful vintage dress and jewels."
While dating Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha in 2001 Elson took an interest in music.
In 2003 she contributed backing vocals to a remix of Robert Plant's "Last Time I Saw Her" off of Plant's album Dreamland.
By 2004 the pair had recorded a couple of songs but they were never released.
In 2005 a personal recording of Elson singing was made available on a CD accompanying the August 2005 issue of Uncut magazine (the song was titled "Coming Down").
It wasn't until 2006 that Elson received attention, singing the provocative "I Love You (Me Either)" with Cat Power on Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, a tribute album to French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
In July 2008 she accompanied She & Him during a live show in Nashville, Tennessee, performing "Tennessee Waltz" alongside Zooey Deschanel.
As a child she went to North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, model Kate Elson.
On 1 June 2005, she married Jack White (of the bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather) in Brazil.
he wedding took place in a canoe in the Amazon River and was officiated by a shaman.
A Catholic priest later blessed the ceremony.
Elson first met White while filming the video for The White Stripes single "Blue Orchid" earlier in 2005.
The video's director, Floria Sigismondi noted, "you sensed an energy between them."
Elson gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Scarlett Teresa, on 2 May 2006 in Tennessee.
The couple's second child, a boy, named Henry Lee, was born on 7 August 2007.
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