Silvstedt was the first runner-up in the Miss Sweden pageant which was won by Johanna Lind.After losing that she was then signed by a Parisian modeling agent and began a career in high fashion, working for various companies including Chanel, Christian Dior, Loris Azzaro, Givenchy, Valentino, and Giorgio Armani.In 1993, Silvstedt appeared in Girls of Northern Europe , in which she was photographed in frontal nudity three years before appearing in Playboy in 1996. After being approached by Hugh Hefner to be recruited as a Playboy centerfold, she appeared as the Playmate of the Month in the December 1996 issue of Playboy, and she was soon selected as the Playmate of the Year in 1997. She has been featured in numerous magazines, including GQ, Maxim, FHM, Gear, and Nuts, where in 2005 she came in second to actress Jennifer Ellison in a competition to find the Sexiest Blonde in the World.
