Erin O'Connor

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

Erin O'Connor

MBE
O'Connor in 2016
Born (1978-02-09) 9 February 1978
Brownhills, West Midlands, England
PartnerStephen Gibson
Children2
Modelling information
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Hair colourDark brown
Eye colourHazel
AgencyHEROES Model Management (New York)
d'management group (Milan)
View Management (Barcelona)
Mega Model Agency (Hamburg)
Priscilla's Model Management (Sydney)
Lizbell Agency (Vancouver) [1]
Websitehttp://www.erinoconnor.co.uk

Early life

O'Connor was born and brought up in Brownhills, West Midlands,[2] where she attended Brownhills Community School.[3] She was brought up Catholic and her father is from Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.[4] On a school trip to Birmingham's Clothes Show Live, she was spotted by a talent scout.[5]

Career
Erin O'Connor in 2008
Erin O'Connor in 2008

Modelling

Her first published pictures were by Juergen Teller for issue 159. The Undressed Issue issue of i-D in December 1996.[6][7] She has modelled on the catwalk for John Galliano, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Prada, Versace, Miu Miu, Jasper Conran,[8] Giorgio Armani, Julien Macdonald, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chado Ralph Rucci, Badgley Mischka, and Dolce & Gabbana. She has worked with many leading fashion photographers including Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, David Sims, Bryan Adams, Nadav Kander and featured in magazines including Vogue, W, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, 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 and in 2008 she launched the haircare line model.me for Toni & Guy, alongside Jamelia and Helena Christensen.[9]

Karl Lagerfeld described her as "one of the best models in the world."[2]

She is signed to Tess Management in London.[10] 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.[11]

Television and radio

In 2001 she appeared as herself in the "Paris" episode of Absolutely Fabulous.[12][13] In March 2003, O'Connor was featured in a three-part Channel 4 documentary This Model Life.[5] O'Connor wrote and presented two documentaries on fashion, Erin's Model World and In Search of Beauty, for BBC Radio 4.[14] In April 2009, she appeared as a mentor and judge on the Irish reality TV series The Model Agent for RTÉ Two. In the autumn of 2013, O'Connor appeared on The Face on Sky Living HD alongside Naomi Campbell 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 paper The Daily Rubbish, contributes a regular blog to the British Vogue online and has written for The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail.[15]

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'.[16]

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.[17]

O'Connor launched her own line of fair-trade and eco-friendly cotton T-shirts and bags with stylist Kate Halfpenny.[18] O'Connor is an ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking into the causes of premature birth.[19]

Personal life

O'Connor gave birth to her first child, a boy, in 2014.[20] In 2019, she gave birth to a second son.[21]

O'Connor was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to fashion and charity.[22]

References
  1. "Erin O'Connor – Model". MODELS.com.
  2. Freeman, Hadley (21 September 2006). "Standing tall". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  3. "My best teacher - Erin O'Connor | Tes Magazine". www.tes.com. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  4. Addison, Harriet (31 January 2009). "Frequent flyer Erin OConnor". The Times. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  5. "Erin O'Connor – Model Profile". New York. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  6. Juergen Tell on tumblr Accessed 2011-10-07
  7. Model.com Profile – i-D Magazine interview with Dean Mayo Davies, March 2009 Accessed 2008-10-09
  8. "Jasper Conran Autumn Winter 2007 Collection". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  9. Marketing Birmingham – Jamelia & Erin O’Conner launch Model.Me in Birmingham Archived 28 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine marketingbirmingham.com, 25 Sept. 2011
  10. Tess Management Profile Archived 10 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2011-10-07
  11. "Erin O'Connor's PA stole £12,000". The Daily Telegraph. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019.
  12. Lyall, Sarah (11 November 2001). "A Bit Older and Sadder, but Still 'Absolutely Fabulous'". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  13. "Episode 3:Paris". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  14. Mahoney, Elizabeth (13 April 2008). "Radio review". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  15. "Observer Ethical Awards 2009: Judge Erin O'Connor". 16 January 2009 – via www.theguardian.com.
  16. Groskop, Viv (13 February 2011). "Supermodel Erin O'Connor slams fashion world for lying to women". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  17. "Save The Children". erin-o-connor. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  18. "ERIN O'CONNOR'S NEW CLOTHING LINE". Stylist. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  19. "Our Patrons and Ambassadors". Borne. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  20. "Erin O'Connor gives birth to baby by partner Stephen Gibson". www.hellomagazine.com.
  21. Moran, Hannah (15 March 2019). "Model Erin O'Connor announces the arrival of her second child". Evoke. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  22. "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B21.
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