It would be fair to refer to Lina Berg as the “edgy girl” on the runway; the 25-year-old flaxen-haired Berg walked a whopping 34 shows this season, adding a bit of angular flair to the catwalks of Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, and Chloé, among others. But though she may be capable of a studied no-nonsense gaze and can brood with the best of them, Berg knows how to crack a joke—especially when it comes to her pre-modeling days. “I grew up in a super-small village close to Hanover. And when you say the name, it means something like ‘horny’ in German,” Berg laughs. And so far, Berg has come a long way from her small-town life (“We didn’t have a supermarket. There were like 500 people, a petrol station, and a hair salon”) and considers herself a new New Yorker, albeit one who enjoyed the glitter that rained down on the runway at Burberry this year firsthand.
One thing that’s carried over from her youth? Her gray-on-black look (“I still wear dark stuff!”)—though back in the early aughts, it wasn’t quite comprised of the vintage sweatshirts and black skinny jeans that she is wearing today. “When I was twelve or thirteen, I was quite a rebel,” says Berg. “I wanted to look older than I was because my friends were older and I wanted to go to clubs and stuff, so I was wearing all of these ‘bitchy’ clothes.” If you’re now wondering what “bitchy” clothes are, so were we: “It was those Miss Sixty Jeans that are super-low and have a zipper in the back. I also was always into these really short crop tops and push-up bras. Plus, those Buffalo shoes—I had two pairs. We always put socks in the front to make them look bigger and they had flames on the side.” But for a teen in the early aughts, there was also the more pop-culture-infused ensembles to feed off of, with inspiration coming from belly-baring Christina Aguilera and the sugary glitz of the Spice Girls. “I tried to copy Christina Aguilera. I remember that music video ‘Lady Marmalade’ and I loved it! I wanted to have all of the clothes they were wearing,” says Berg. “Also, some of the Spice Girls with the shoes, the jewelry, and the tattoo [choker] necklace. I think those were my two big idols.” With a seventies influence already rocking the fashion world and nineties grunge rearing up then and again, can it be long until we see millennial nostalgia take over? Let’s hope Berg has enough of those tattoo chokers to go around.
Vogue Scandinavia October/November 2025 : Suvi Koponen by Jesse Laitinen (6 Viewers)