Erin O'Connor (born 9 February 1978) is a British high-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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and her father is from Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. On a school trip to Birmingham's Clothes Show Live, 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 John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...

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 and education Karan was born to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabinow ...

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 ...

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

, Miu Miu, Jasper Conran,

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

, 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 Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, 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, ...

. 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 fo ...

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 ...

, Steven Klein, Nick Knight,

Mario Testino Mario Eduardo Testino Silva Order of the British Empire, OBE Royal Photographic Society#Distinctions and qualifications, HonFRPS (born 30 October 1954) is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. His work has featured internationally in ...

, David Sims,

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Nadav Kander Nadav Kander HonFRPS (; born 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 Fellowship from ...

and featured in magazines including '' Vogue'', '' W'', ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'', '' Harpers & Queen'', '' i-D'', 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 plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

and in 2008 she launched the haircare line ''model.me'' for Toni & Guy, alongside Jamelia and

Helena Christensen Helena Christensen (born 25 December 1968) is a Danish fashion model. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, co-founder and original creative director for ''Nylon'' magazine, and she is a supporter of funding for breast cancer organizations an ...

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

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld also called Kaiser Karl (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion hous ...

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 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

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. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

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

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. 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 a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...

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

paper ''The Daily Rubbish'', contributes a regular blog to the British '' Vogue'' online and has written for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday 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 N ...

'' and the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''.

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. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were 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 were awarded a ...

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 Models from the West Midlands (county) People from Brownhills