Caroline Winberg was born on March 27, 1985, in Sollentuna, Sweden, to Thomas and Camila Winberg. She was something of a tomboy in her youth and dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. In fact, it was on her way to play a match that she was discovered on a subway platform at the age of 15. Caroline says that at first she thought the scout was joking when it was suggested that she consider a career in modeling.

A year later, Caroline was being booked for local shoots and appearing in promotional spots for regional companies. It wasn’t long before she caught the eye of several well-known booking agencies, including Women Model Management, Why Not Milan, and Dominique Brussels, and soon found herself working in high-profile campaigns for notable names such as Valentino, Versace, and Armani. Caroline’s burgeoning fame within the modeling industry quickly necessitated a move to New York, where she began establishing herself as one of the hottest imports around.

Caroline devoted herself full-time to her career, taking on virtually every campaign and fashion show offered to her. She has graced the covers of many well-known magazines, including Flair (Italy), Elle (Sweden, Norway), Vogue (Germany, Mexico, and Russia), and Harper’s Bazaar (Russia). She also has appeared in advertising campaigns for companies such as D&G, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas by Stella McCartney, Rolex, Chloé, and Neiman Marcus. Caroline walked in the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. She has also walked for Valentino many times, and he names her as one of his favorite models.

Caroline is incredibly down-to-earth, sensible, and realistic when talking about the industry. She has stated more than once that she knows modeling can be a brief career. However, she manages to look at this positively, saying that it actually makes her not mind so much the crazy schedule and jet lag and lack of sleep right now, since it will only last for a short period of time. If Caroline’s career starts to peter out, as she knows it might, she has expressed a desire to go back to school and study and do whatever she wants, as she will have made enough money to support her future. She hopes to model “at least until I’m 25. What I’ll do when that day comes, I haven’t decided—but it feels great to know I’ll never have to do something just to make money, that I’m free to choose whatever I’m most interested in doing.”

In her downtime, Caroline enjoys reading, taking pictures, and just hanging out in her local coffee shop. She hopes to eventually have children and settle down in her homeland of Sweden and, in her words, “sit in my little cottage by the sea!”