Swedish model Ingmari Lamy has become one of the leading faces of designer Gudrun Sjödén’s boho collections.
Lamy began her modeling career back in the 1960s, quickly rising to prominence as the face of major brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Kenzo. Her images graced the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and many other top fashion magazines. A free spirit at heart, Ingmari has always embraced a bohemian lifestyle, both in attitude and in fashion. Today, she continues to appear in campaigns and photo shoots, staying true to her signature boho-chic aesthetic.
Now in her late 70s, Lamy is perhaps more recognized than ever—largely due to her ongoing partnership with Swedish boho designer Gudrun Sjödén. Despite her early fame in the fashion world, including major campaigns and muse status for Kenzo Takada, it’s her current image as a boho muse that resonates most widely today.
Ingmari’s career began well before the rise of the supermodel era, when million-dollar contracts became the norm. For example, when she signed a five-year deal with Yves Saint Laurent in 1972, she earned just $10,000—an amount that would’ve been at least a million a decade later. At 29, Lamy chose to step away from modeling, moving to the quiet Spanish island of Formentera, where she lived a simple life with her husband, a fashion photographer, and their children. The island had no electricity at the time, and the family lived humbly for many years.
By 1981, she returned to fashion—not as a model, but as a designer, working with Kenzo Takada. Their collaboration was a success, but after the Kenzo brand was acquired by LVMH in the early ’90s, she left and moved back to Sweden. She settled on Stora Holmen island, renting a wing of an old castle. There, she dreamed of opening an eco-friendly spa and launching a range of sustainable products. Though the spa project never fully materialized, she did go on to create her own fashion label, Ingmari Lamy—a line distinct from her now-iconic boho image.
Then came an unexpected turn: boho designers began to see Lamy not just as a designer but as a perfect embodiment of the bohemian muse. With her ethereal presence and natural elegance, she effortlessly fit into the whimsical, nature-inspired world of boho fashion. Photographers captured her beautifully in outdoor settings, adding magic to every shot.
The boho style itself emerged around 1969, influenced by African and Asian aesthetics that surged in popularity through the late ’60s and early ’70s. Though Lamy occasionally modeled these looks in her youth, it wasn’t until later in life that she fully embraced boho as her personal and professional identity.
Her collaboration with Gudrun Sjödén has been particularly powerful—together, they’ve created imagery that celebrates beauty, freedom, and individuality at every age. Lamy’s presence brings elegance and authenticity to the boho genre, inspiring women of all generations to explore this expressive and unconventional fashion style.
