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Erin O'Connor
Date of birth	9 February 1978 (1978-02-09) (age 31)
Place of birth	Brownhills, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Hair colour	Dark brown
Eye colour	Hazel

Erin O'Connor (born 9 February 1978) is an English fashion model.

Early life

Erin O'Connor was born and brought up in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England¹ and went to Brownhills Community School (now Brownhills Community Technology College/ Brownhills C.T.C). She was raised Catholic and her father is from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland.² On a school trip to the Birmingham Clothes Show she was spotted by a scout.³

Modelling career

Her first published pictures were by Juergen Teller for a 1996 issue of i-D, and are credited^{citation needed} with launching an ‘alternative concept of beauty’. O’Connor is noted for her angular, highly symmetrical profile and porcelain-pale complexion^{citation needed}.

She is synonymous^{citation needed} with Charlotte Cotton's notion of 'imperfect beauty' in 1990s fashion photography, and Karl Lagerfeld has described her as "one of the best models in the world".¹ O’Connor has been associated with luxury labels from Chanel, Versace, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Armani, and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

She has modelled on the catwalk for John Galliano, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Prada, Versace, Miu Miu, Giorgio Armani, Julien MacDonald, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Badgley Mischka, Dolce & Gabbana and Ermanno Scervino among many others. She has worked with many leading fashion photographers including Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, David Sims, Bryan Adams,and Jonathan de Villiers, and featured in magazines including Vogue, W, Elle, Nova, Harper's Bazaar, Harpers & Queen, i-D, and Visionaire. She was on the January cover of British Vogue. In March 2003, O'Connor featured in a three-part Channel 4 documentary This Model Life.³

Since 2005, she has been one of the faces of the iconic 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.

In July 2008, O'Connor appeared on the cover of Singapore Harper's Bazaar.

She writes a column for London Fashion Week paper The Daily Rubbish, currently contributes a regular blog to the online presence of British Vogue, has written for The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail and recently wrote & presented a Documentary on fashion Erin's Model World for BBC Radio 4.

In 2009, she will appear as a mentor & judge on the Irish reality TV series The Model Agent for RTE 2.

On 20th May 2009, she attended and officially opened the Univeristy of Dundee's College of Art and Design VIP degree show preview night; "Designs on the Future", featuring amongst the various disciplines, a fashion show of work from both jewellery and Textiles final year students.

She is signed to 2pm Model Management in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Independent Models in London.

In 2007, The Sunday Times considered her to be the 39th richest person under 30 in the United Kingdom, with an estimated wealth of 12 million pounds.⁴

O'Connor is the vice chair of the British Fashion Council and runs the Model sanctuary an area of relaxation for catwalk models between shows.

The Long Blondes second album "Couples" includes a track called "Erin O'Connor".

In 2001, she appeared as herself in the "Paris" episode of Absolutely Fabulous.

Personal life

She once dated TV presenter Jamie Theakston and had a long-term relationship with Sky News producer John Kent.¹³.

She lives in Camberwell, London

References

External links

• Erin O'Connor at Fashion Model Directory
• Erin O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
• Erin O'Connor's Pictures
• Fashion TV Profile on Youtube