Erin O'Connor, MBE (born 9 February 1978) is a British fashion model.

Early life

O'Connor was born and brought up in

Brownhills Brownhills is a town and former administrative centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. A few miles south of Cannock Chase and close to the large Chasewater reservoir, it is northeast of Walsall, a similar dista ...

, West Midlands, where she attended Brownhills Community School. She was brought up

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and her father is from

Ballycastle, County Antrim Ballycastle () is a small seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is on the northeasternmost coastal tip of Ireland, in the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The harbour hosts the ferry to Rathlin Island, wh ...

, Northern Ireland. On a school trip to Birmingham's

Clothes Show Live The Clothes Show (formerly Clothes Show Live) is a consumer exhibition brand held annually in December at the Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. The event showcases the latest fashion, beauty and music. The Clothes Show history The f ...

, she was spotted by a talent scout.

Career

Modelling

Her first published pictures were by

Juergen Teller Juergen Teller (born 28 January 1964) is a German fine-art and fashion photographer. He was awarded the Citibank Prize for Photography in 2003 and received the Special Presentation International Center of Photography Infinity Award in 2018. Maj ...

for issue 159. The Undressed Issue issue of ''i-D'' in December 1996. She has modelled on the catwalk for

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the crea ...

, Christian Dior,

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...

, Prada,

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Paris, France. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 by Miuccia Prada. The name ...

Jasper Conran Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran (born 12 December 1959) is an English designer. He has worked on collections of womenswear and for the home, as well as productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre. Early life He is the second son of ...

, Giorgio Armani, Julien Macdonald,

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an " enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

, Chado Ralph Rucci,

Badgley Mischka Badgley Mischka is an American fashion label designed by Mark Badgley (born January 12, 1961 in East St. Louis, MO) and James Mischka (born December 23, 1960 in Burlington, WI). Their collections are said to be largely influenced by the style ...

, and

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...

. She has worked with many leading fashion photographers including

Patrick Demarchelier Patrick Demarchelier (; 21 August 1943 – 31 March 2022) was a French fashion photographer. Early life and education Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, Demarchelier spent his childhood in Le Havre, Normandy, with his mother and four ...

, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Nick Knight,

Mario Testino Mario Eduardo Testino Silva OBE HonFRPS (born 30 October 1954) is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. His work has featured internationally in magazines such as ''Vogue, V Magazine,'' ''Vanity Fair'' and '' GQ.'' He has also crea ...

, David Sims,

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, Nadav Kander and featured in magazines including ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' W'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', '' Harpers & Queen'', '' i-D'', and ''

Visionaire The VisionAire VA-10 Vantage is a prototype single-engined light business-jet (or "very light jet") designed and developed by the American company VisionAire Jets Corporation. Originally planned for production in the late 1990s, the original Visio ...

''. She was on the January cover of British ''Vogue''. Since 2005, she has been one of the faces of the British high-street chain Marks and Spencer and in 2008 she launched the haircare line ''model.me'' for

Toni & Guy Toni & Guy (stylised as TONI&GUY) is a British international chain of hairdressing salons founded in the UK in 1963 by brothers Toni and Guy Mascolo. History In 1963, Toni Mascolo and his brother Guy opened their first salon in Clapham, Londo ...

, alongside

Jamelia ' Jamelia Niela Davis (born 11 January 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in the UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top-ten singl ...

and

Helena Christensen Helena Christensen (born 25 December 1968) is a Danish model and photographer. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, clothing designer and beauty queen. Christensen was also the co-founder and original creative director for ''Nylon'' magazine, ...

.Marketing Birmingham – Jamelia & Erin O’Conner launch Model.Me in Birmingham
marketingbirmingham.com, 25 Sept. 2011

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

described her as "one of the best models in the world." She is signed to Tess Management in London. In 2011, O'Connor's personal assistant, Michelle Knox Brown was convicted of stealing around £12,000 from the model, which she spent on foreign holidays.

Television and radio

In 2001 she appeared as herself in the "Paris" episode of ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

''. In March 2003, O'Connor was featured in a three-part

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary ''This Model Life''. O'Connor wrote and presented two

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

on fashion, ''Erin's Model World'' and ''In Search of Beauty'', for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. In April 2009, she appeared as a mentor and judge on the Irish reality TV series ''

The Model Agent ''The Model Scouts'', formerly ''The Model Agent'' during its first season in 2009, was an Republic of Ireland, Irish Reality television, reality Documentary film, documentary on RTÉ Two that followed twelve girls competing for a lucrative ...

'' for

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

. In the autumn of 2013, O'Connor appeared on '' The Face'' on Sky Living HD alongside

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

and Caroline Winberg. The series followed the three as they competed to find and mentor a new 'face' of

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dolla ...

beauty.

Journalism

She writes a column for

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

paper ''The Daily Rubbish'', contributes a regular blog to the British ''

'' online and has written for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' and the '' Daily Mail''.

Other ventures

In 2009, O'Connor co-founded All Walks Beyond the Catwalk alongside Caryn Franklin and Debra Bourne. The initiative proposes to challenge the fashion industry's "dependence on unachievable and limited body and beauty ideals". For the launch campaign, O'Connor swapped roles and stood behind the camera for the first time to photograph models holding the slogan 'Size Me Up'. O'Connor was a spokesperson for the fair-trade charity Traid. O'Connor was an ambassador for the RED initiative. In 2011, O'Connor became an ambassador for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. O'Connor launched her own line of fair-trade and eco-friendly cotton T-shirts and bags with stylist Kate Halfpenny. O'Connor is an ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking into the causes of premature birth.

Personal life

O'Connor gave birth to her first child, a boy, in 2014. In 2019, she gave birth to a second son. O'Connor was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to fashion and charity.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Erin Living people English female models 1978 births Alumni of the London College of Fashion Members of the Order of the British Empire Irish female models English people of Irish descent