‘90s Bombshell Who Vanished From Spotlight Makes Comeback at 57
Once a top-paid model, she left the fashion world after speaking out against the industry.
frederic meylan/Sygma via Getty Images
Karen Mulder, one of the highest-paid supermodels of the 1990s, has resurfaced almost two decades after stepping out of the spotlight.
An original Victoria’s Secret Angel who walked runways alongside Naomi Campbell and posed for Vogue with Linda Evangelista, Mulder, 57, is the new cover star of Vogue Germany.
Daniela Pestova, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, and Ines Rivero pose on the Victoria’s Secret runway in New York in 1998.
Jeff Christensen/Reuters
Three decades after her last Vogue cover, the Dutch fashion icon posed for the camera, showing off her high cheekbones and blond-bombshell blowout. She leaned on a car with one hand behind her head, her 5-foot-10 frame draped in a red gown.
Mulder, once known as “The Blonde with Class,” stopped modeling in the early 2000s, made one runway comeback for Dior in 2007, and then disappeared from the limelight.
In 1985, when she was just 15, Mulder entered the fashion world after her friend signed her up for a modeling contest in the Netherlands. After placing second in the competition’s Paris finals, she signed with Elite Model Management, the agency that represented supermodels Campbell, Evangelista, and Cindy Crawford.
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Modeling legend Karen Mulder, now 57, appears on the cover of Vogue Germany's September 2026 issue.
Sean & Seng/Courtesy of Vogue
From there, Mulder walked all the biggest runways, graced the covers of hundreds of magazines, and even won a “Model of the Year” title in 1996. She was also one of the first Victoria’s Secret Angels, walking alongside America’s Next Top Model host and legendary model Tyra Banks.
The April 1991 Vogue cover featuring models Judit Masco, Niki Taylor, and Karen Mulder.
Patrick Demarchelier/Conde Nast via Getty Images
In the interview, Mulder said she came up with the idea of putting wings on the models and pitched it to executives after seeing the TV series Charlie’s Angels.
Karen Mulder said she pitched the idea that Victoria’s Secret models wear angel wings. Walking here at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1998 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
But Mulder’s career took a sharp turn in 2001, when she appeared on the French talk show Tout le monde en parle…, which translates to Everyone is talking about…
She told the host about the dark side of the modeling industry, mentioning threats, sexual abuse, and drugs. The episode was never broadcast, but host Thierry Ardisson later said the model screamed and collapsed during the taping, according to Vogue Germany.
Karen Mulder walks the runway in a Versace show at The Ritz during Paris Fashion Week in the 1990s.
Foc Kan/WireImage
Mulder repeated the same stories to the police and the French magazine VSD. A few days later, she was admitted to a psychiatric facility for several months, after which she retracted her accusations and stated that she had “fabricated” them.
Karen Mulder walked some of the most famous runways. Pictured here walking for Yves Saint Laurent in Paris in 1996.
STR News via Reuters
“I was forced to say I had made it all up,” she told Vogue Germany, referring to the troubling episode 25 years earlier.
“I thought that because I was famous, people would believe me,” Mulder added. “All I wanted was for those terrible things to stop—for men to stop thinking they could do whatever they pleased.”
The last straw to her modeling career was the headlines caused by her 2002 hospitalization. She had reportedly overdosed on sleeping pills.
Karen Mulder and Naomi Campbell posing with their look-alike dolls in Paris in 1996.
STR News via Reuters
Now, Mulder believes the industry is different, telling Vogue Germany that she thinks “a lot has really changed.”
She is still friends with supermodels Helena Christensen and Stephanie Seymour, and said they talked about how great it was that the two were still working in their late fifties.
“We would never have thought that possible back then,” she said.
After retiring, Mulder settled down in Paris, gained weight, and welcomed a daughter, now 19.
She has largely stayed out of public view, appearing in photos only at a select few events since her retirement.
Christian Louboutin, Arielle Dombasle, Olivier Zahm, and retired model Karen Mulder attend the Etam Fashion Show Spring/Summer 2011 Collection Launch at Grand Palais on January 24, 2011, in Paris, France.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
She told the magazine that, over the last three years, she has lost the weight and plans to return to the industry.
“Now, I think, is the right time to come back,” she said. “I’m not the same person I used to be. I’m looking to the future with nothing but positivity.”
Karen Mulder attends the Ludovic Baron photo exhibition preview in Palais Brongniart on October 29, 2014, in Paris, France. Although she stepped away from modeling more than a decade earlier, she was occasionally photographed at events.
Foc Kan/WireImage
She recalled being “young and naive” in her earlier modeling days. “I was often way too friendly—friendly to the wrong people,” she said. “But that’s over.”
Mulder will make her runway comeback in September.
“The other day, I walked back and forth on my tiptoes a bit to try it out,” she told the outlet. “I’m sure I can still do it.”
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