Erin O'Connor,
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(born 9 February 1978) is a British fashion model.
Early life
O'Connor was born and brought up in
Brownhills, West Midlands,
where she attended
Brownhills Community School. She was brought up
Catholic and her father is from
Ballycastle, County Antrim, 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 for issue 159. The Undressed Issue issue of ''i-D'' in December 1996. She has modelled on the catwalk for
John Galliano,
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
,
Donna Karan,
Prada
Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...
,
Versace,
Miu Miu,
Jasper Conran,
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...
,
Julien Macdonald,
Jean-Paul Gaultier,
Chado Ralph Rucci
Ralph Rucci (born 1957) is an American fashion designer and artist. He is known in particular for Chado Ralph Rucci, a luxury clothing and accessories line. Rucci's clothing designs have appeared in a number of major exhibitions, and he has won ...
,
Badgley Mischka, and
Dolce & Gabbana. She has worked with many leading fashion photographers including
Patrick Demarchelier,
Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in ''Vogue'' and ''Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, ''Sex''. He is n ...
,
Steven Klein,
Nick Knight,
Mario Testino,
David Sims David Sims is the name of:
*David Sims (running back) (born 1955), former American football running back with the Seattle Seahawks
* David Sims (safety) (born 1986), American football safety for the Indianapolis Colts
*Dave Sims (born 1953), Seattl ...
,
Bryan Adams,
Nadav Kander
Nadav Kander HonFRPS (born 1 December 1961) is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander has produced a number of books and had his work exhibited widely. He received an Honorary Fellow ...
and featured in magazines including ''
Vogue'', ''
W'', ''
Elle'', ''
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'', ''
Harpers & Queen
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'', ''
i-D
''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' art director Terry Jones (i-D), Terry Jones in 1980. The ...
'', and ''
Visionaire''. 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
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
and in 2008 she launched the haircare line ''model.me'' for
Toni & Guy, alongside
Jamelia and
Helena Christensen.
[Marketing Birmingham – Jamelia & Erin O’Conner launch Model.Me in Birmingham]
marketingbirmingham.com, 25 Sept. 2011
Karl Lagerfeld 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''.
In March 2003, O'Connor was featured in a three-part
Channel 4 documentary ''This Model Life''.
O'Connor wrote and presented two
documentaries on fashion, ''Erin's Model World'' and ''In Search of Beauty'', for
BBC Radio 4.
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 Irish reality documentary on RTÉ Two that followed twelve girls competing for a lucrative modelling contract with IMG.
In 2008 the series followed ...
'' for
RTÉ Two. In the autumn of 2013, O'Connor appeared on ''
The Face
The face is a part of the body, the front of the head.
Face may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face''
* ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film
* ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...
'' on Sky Living HD alongside
Naomi Campbell and
Caroline Winberg
Caroline Maria Winberg (born 27 March 1985) is a Swedish model.
Personal life
Caroline Winberg was born in Sollentuna. Winberg, a tomboy and aspiring professional football player in her youth for AIK from Solna a suburb north Stockholm, was ...
. The series followed the three as they competed to find and mentor a new 'face' of
Max Factor beauty.
Journalism
She writes a column for
London Fashion Week paper ''The Daily Rubbish'', contributes a regular blog to the British ''
Vogue'' online and has written for ''
The Sunday Times'' and the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
''.
Other ventures
In 2009, O'Connor co-founded
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk alongside
Caryn Franklin
Caryn Franklin MBE (born 11 January 1959) is a British fashion and identity commentator and visiting professor of diverse selfhood. She was former fashion editor and co-editor of ''i-D'' magazine in the 1980s and long-time presenter of BBC te ...
and
Debra Bourne
Debra Lysette Bourne is a communications expert, brand consultant and advocate for diversity in fashion. She co-founded All Walks Beyond The Catwalk, is a brand consultant, a former board director at Lynne Franks PR and Executive Fashion Edit ...
. 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.
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 (MBE) in the
2017 Birthday Honours
The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...
for services to fashion and charity.
References
External links
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{{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