Saffron Aldridge (born 1968) is an English

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

. Discovered at the age of sixteen, she rose to prominence working for Ralph Lauren in the 1990s. Her siblings include fashion photographer

Miles Aldridge Miles Aldridge (born 29 September 1964) is a British fashion photographer and artist. Early life Born in North London to graphic designer Alan Aldridge, Miles grew up accustomed to celebrity – John Lennon was a family friend, as well as Eri ...

and half-sisters, models

Lily Aldridge Lily Maud Aldridge (born November 15, 1985) is an American model best known for being a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2010 until 2018. She also appeared in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'', alongside Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal, for th ...

and

Ruby Aldridge Ruby Rose Aldridge (born August 26, 1991) is an American fashion model and singer. During the years of 2008 - 2012, Ruby Aldridge was the "face" of brands such as Coach, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Valentino, and Calvin Klein. During the 2011 fall fash ...

Early life

Born in

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...

, North London, Aldridge is the daughter of graphic designer Alan Aldridge and Rita Farthing. From age 13 to 16, she worked at Camden Lock market and people often suggested that she should be a model. She knew a girl working on a stall who was with the Take Two modeling agency, so one day she decided to go along and they took her on.

Career

Aldridge began her career as a model at sixteen years old wearing

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

for '' The Field'' magazine. Aged 17, she managed to get herself a lucky break working for a Ralph Lauren campaign. She was brought in as an extra because a friend of hers knew Bruce Weber, who was shooting the campaign. It was this job that gave her her first contract with Ralph and from then on, Aldridge gained popularity as former face of Ralph Lauren. She was photographed for numerous

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

s such as

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessorie ...

Gianfranco Ferré Gianfranco Ferré (; 15 August 1944 – 17 June 2007) was an Italian fashion designer also known as "the architect of fashion" for his background and his original attitude toward creating fashion design. Early life and education Ferré was born ...

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

, La Perla,

Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

, Ralph Lauren,

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

Laura Biagiotti Laura Biagiotti (; 4 August 1943 – 26 May 2017) was an Italian fashion designer, and the founder of the House of Biagiotti. Early life Biagiotti was born in Rome on 4 August 1943. Her mother Delia Soldaini Biagiotti was a successful dressm ...

and also appeared on the covers of Italian and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian magazines. In 1993 she was the first fashion model to be photographed while carrying her child on the cover of the Italian magazine

Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...

. After almost two decades of modelling, Aldridge has moved on to launch a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

for children. In 1998 she presented a fundraising project called ''Through the Eyes of a Child'', with the proceeds going to the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

. Aldridge persuaded

Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.< ...

to donate 200 free cameras, that were handed out to children between the ages of 3 and 12. They could photograph anything they wanted but they were under instructions not to get help from grown-ups. The top 200 shots went on display and were featured in a coffee-table book. Altogether, including the charity dinner and auction (supported by many celebrities such as

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...

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 ...

and Sting), the project raised £150,000. The following years the campaign was repeated worldwide. With her husband

Ian Wace Ian Gerald Patrick Wace (born January 1963) is a British financier who co-founded Marshall Wace Asset Management, a London-based hedge fund with Paul Marshall in 1997. He and Marshall, along with another hedge fund manager Arpad Busson, co-fou ...

, Aldridge also works for

ARK Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

Personal life

After her parents' divorce at the age of eight, Aldridge grew up in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

with her mother and brothers Marc and

. Models

Lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

and

are her half-sisters from Alan's second marriage in Los Angeles. She suffered self-doubt for many years of her career as a model, also marked by the loss of her best friend in the

Marchioness disaster The ''Marchioness'' disaster was a collision between two vessels on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989, which resulted in the deaths of 51 people. The pleasure steamer ''Marchioness'' sank after being hit twice by ...

and by the death of her mother from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

in 1992. While she was modelling, in 1993 Aldridge became pregnant with her first child, Milo, by her partner Simon Astaire. A year later she married

media executive A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

Toby Constantine and gave birth to her second son, Finn Constantine in 1997 but the marriage eventually led to divorce. In 2012, she married the financier

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Saffron 1960s births English female models Living people Models from London Children's rights activists