Name	Karen Elson
Height	5'10
Naionality	British
Date of Birth	14 January 1979
Place of Birth	Oldham, Greater Manchester
Famous for

In 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.[4] 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 SigismondiShe has also appeared in fashion films such as Cyril Guyot's Tom Ford Is Missing,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[17] 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.[23]. 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."