Karen Mulder

Karen Mulder (born 1 June 1969 Mulder has featured on over 700 magazine covers and was one of the original Victoria's Secret angels. After leaving modelling in 2000, she focused on music and acting before retiring in 2002.

In 2002, she released her cover single I Am What I Am which In 2026, she returned to the public eye, featuring on the September cover of Vogue Deutsch and launching an Instagram account.

Karen Mulder is trilingual being equally fluent in her native Dutch, English and French, which she speaks flawlessly with only a slight Dutch lilt.

Early life Mulder was born in 1969 in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.

In 1985, Mulder and her family went on a camping trip in the south of France. She saw an ad for Elite Model Management's "Look of the Year" contest in a newspaper. Mulder was wearing braces at the time and dismissed the idea of applying. A New York Times article from 1991 described Mulder's work schedule, detailing a typical thirteen hour day packed with obligations to Ralph Lauren, a French film crew, Anna Sui and Giorgio Sant'Angelo.

Mulder appeared on the cover of British and Spanish Vogue in 1991–1992 and became the face of a Nivea advertising campaign. In 1992, Mulder signed a contract with Victoria's Secret. Le Fur and Mulder also made an infomercial and video. Mulder released a beauty and fashion CD-ROM, in which she presented makeup, beauty, and exercise tips.

One of the first issues of Elle Top Model magazine was entirely devoted to Mulder along with an entire issue of Italian Vogue. Her two appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1997 and 1998 and her poses for the Victoria's Secret catalogue increased Mulder's profile. In 1997 she released her own calendar. At one point in her career, she was reportedly earning up to £10,000 a day.

In 2000, Mulder retired from modeling. She made her acting debut in the French short film A Theft, One Night in 2001.

Mulder also pursued music, and released an album including the single I Am What I Am which achieved some success in the French charts in 2002. After the show Mulder once again retreated from the public eye. Mulder stated that her life changed in 1993 when she was shuttling from airport to airport with almost no time at home. She then met real estate developer Jean-Yves Le Fur in the waiting lounge of a Paris airport. They became engaged but their relationship ended in 1997.

Mulder gave birth to a daughter on 30 October 2006.

As of 2026, Mulder lives in Paris. The show did not air, as its creators were concerned about her mental state. Days later, Mulder repeated her allegations to a weekly magazine, VSD. Mulder was hospitalised at Villa Montsouris psychiatric facility for five months. The stay was reportedly paid for by Elite models president Gérald Marie, her employer and one of the accused. Her parents supported her hospitalization.

Following release from the hospital, Mulder retracted her allegations. She stated that she had "gone overboard" in response to her childhood sexual abuse, and had tried to kill herself.

On 1 July 2009, it was reported that Mulder was arrested in Paris for leaving irate and threatening voicemails for her plastic surgeon.

In 2026, Mulder said to German Vogue that she was forced to retract her 2001 allegations, being "locked away" and "silenced". She also confirmed that she never met Jeffrey Epstein, a rumour that appeared following the release of the Epstein Files.