Model Freja Beha Erichsen was born on October 18, 1987, in Roskilde, Denmark. Her lawyer parents divorced shortly after she was born, and she spent her childhood splitting her time between her parents' homes. At the age of 15, she was scouted by an agent on the street and began her career as a model. She made her stunning runway debut in the 2005 Autumn/Winter season, walking in shows for Prada and Louis Vuitton and appearing in the first look for Miu Miu. Despite only being a debut model, she also appeared on the cover of French Vogue and was soon cast in advertisements for Jil Sander and Balenciaga, creating a buzz in the industry. The following year, she appeared in 140 shows in a single year, further cementing her status as a supermodel. Among her many appearances were on the covers of Numéro and Vogue, and campaigns for Calvin Klein and H&M. In 2007, she drastically cut her long hair, further enhancing her cool personality, along with her full-body tattoos. That same year, JILL STUART released the Freja handbag. Subsequently, brands like Chloé and Alexander Wang released items bearing her name. Freja went on to win the Danish Model of the Year award in 2008 and 2009, and in 2010 came in second on Models.com's model rankings. In 2011, she dominated campaigns for three major fashion houses: Louis Vuitton, Valentino, and Chanel. However, she took a break from catwalk appearances after the 2012 Spring/Summer season that year, and has since focused on campaign modeling. In 2013, she designed a limited-edition collection for denim brand Mother, and in 2014, she presented a capsule collection for ZADIG&VOLTAIRE, for which she served as muse.

In 2014, she returned to Paris Fashion Week, appearing in Louis Vuitton's first look. Her collection was selected as the best of the season for the 2014-15 Autumn/Winter women's ready-to-wear season.

In her personal life, she is active in volunteer work, and since 2005, she has sponsored a program to support girls living in Mali. In 2011, she and Arizona Muse campaigned for donations to Doctors Without Borders. Perhaps this connection led to rumors of a relationship between the two.