1990s supermodel Karen Mulder covers the September 2026 issue of Vogue Germany [IG]. Mulder was an early Victoria’s Secret Angel, with her life and job prospects on a roll until 2001.

Mulder’s Vogue Germany cover is her first in 30 years. She is styled by Dogukan Nesanir in Celine for the cover, adding Giorgio Armani, Loro Piana, Maison Alaia, Maison Valentino, Noor Hammour Paris, Sportmax, and more, in images by Sean+Seng [IG].

In that year Karen Mulder made shocking claims of abuse against the fashion industry and its treatment of models. Interviewed for a French talk show, the Dutch super ended up in a psychiatric hospital resulting from her commentary, which never aired on television or to the general public.

Vogue Germany is more assertive in their commentary, writing:

“In the early 2000s, she was ruthlessly cancelled after becoming one of the first to speak out against abuse in the fashion industry.”

The sentiments around Karen Mulder’s claims run very deep at Vogue Germany. For example, stylist Dogukan Nesanir writes to Mulder:

“We love you. We believe you. We are all standing behind you.
To be asked to be part of this story, and to witness Karen return to the pages of Vogue after more than 25 years, is truly monumental. It means so much to me.
A huge thank you to the entire Condé Nast / Vogue Germany team for trusting me with this incredibly special moment & letting me return home to my Germans!”

In her interview, Mulder insists that in order to obtain her release from the psychiatric hospital, she had to stipulate that she made up the entire story of fashion model abuse as shared with the French talk show. All tapes were destroyed by the French talk show.

In 2002, Mulder was found unconscious in her apartment, after taking an overdose of pills.

Another name in the Mulder case is Elite Model Management European president Gérald Marie, who has been publicly linked by accusers and investigative groups to the wider network surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Jean-Luc Brunel.

Jean-Luc Didier Henri René Brunel was a French model scout and alleged sex trafficker. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management with financing by Jeffrey Epstein. Brunel died by suicide in a French prison in February, 2022, awaiting trial on charges connected to his work with Epstein, who also committed suicide in a New York City jail in 2019.

Gérald Marie denies all allegations of wrongdoing. Marie was previously married to Linda Evangelista, who has accused him of severe physical and sexual abuse, but has no pending litigation. Last month [July, 2026] in Paris, a group of six women claimed Gérald Marie, who ran Elite Model Management in Paris, raped them during the 1980s and 1990s when some were underage.

Extensive reporting by the Sunday Times of London, reminds readers that there are legal statute of limitations issues surrounding those accusations. Separately, also in July, Carré Otis, the American former model and former wife of the actor Mickey Rourke, now 57, filed a legal complaint in Paris against Marie, accusing him of raping her at age 17.

In March, a group of 15 former models wrote to the Paris prosecutor claiming to have legal documents and emails linking Marie to Epstein. They urged investigators to examine whether Marie took part in crimes connected to the financier. This news is also part of the Sunday Times investigation and was also reported in WWD on July 17, 2026.

High Impact Strategy From All Directions

Some of the women were involved in a 2020 case against Marie. It was closed in 2023, claiming lack of evidence. The women admit that there are statute of limitations issues attached many of their claims. Bringing AOC up-to-date on the issue, two currents are very strong.

Two New Confrontations Employed by Alleged Victims

The refusal of Epstein’s victims to sit down and shut up has inspired these women. In America, the alleged Epstein victims women have major support from red and blue America, who can’t agree on much of anything. We all know that there is much more to the Epstein story, and officials are trying to hide the facts. The women refuse to accept silence and inaction. If the Democrats win the House in November — or, goddess forbid — the House and the Senate — there will be a full court press to get action in the Epstein case.

The second current of change is the decision among all the women to be honest and unfrightened in their willingness to detail the brutality involved in these alleged rapes. AOC admits to being caught off-guard on the depths of extreme misogyny, pain and injury that accompanied the alleged sexual activities by many of these men.

We have a case in New York filed against New York financier Howard Rubin and his personal assistant, Jennifer Powers, that is staggering in its claims of physical abuse against the women. Based on documents, women were advised up front that their suffering was required as part of servicing Mr.Rubin. In reality, all safe words to stop were ignored, as Rubin allegedly became more brutally ruthless in his treatment of the women, without their clear consent. Frequently offering $5,000 for the session, Rubin would deduct money from the bill if the women complained about his treatment of them, or begged him to stop.

Details of the case are outlined by NBC News and also in the paperwork filed by the US Justice Department in the Eastern District of New York.