Helena Christensen goes topless for cover shoot

Helena Christensen showed that age is no barrier for a supermodel as she posed topless for a moody black and white portrait for British Elle magazine.

Body confident: Helena Christensen

But the striking 40-year-old model said it was important the shoot was not too risque - as she was worried it might lead her grandmother into an early grave.

"I have no problems with showing my body," the mother-of-one told Elle in an exclusive interview.

"I just wanted the nudity to be in that normal, subtle way because my grandmother is still alive and I want to keep her for another 15 years - I don't want her to get a shock."

The former Miss Denmark added that she gets her relaxed attitude to nudity from her upbringing.

"I have no problems with it. But I'm Danish. Everyone's naked on the beaches. We don't really give a s***."

Christensen carved a successful career as a catwalk model and covergirl after appearing - naked - in the music video for Chris Issak's 1991 hit Wicked Game.

But she rejects the term "supermodel" which was used to describe Christensen and colleagues such as Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista as they reached their heights of fame in the mid-nineties.

"It's silly and cartoonish," she said.

:: The full interview and shoot appears in the January issue of British Elle magazine, on sale Wednesday December 2, or at www.elleuk.com