Erin O’Connor on Catholic Drama, Androgyny, and Alexander McQueen | Fashion Neurosis

About this video

Erin O’Connor is a British supermodel, writer, and advocate. She grew up in the West Midlands and was scouted as a teenager at the iconic 90’s cult show The Clothes Show live. Erin O’Connor’s modelling debut was in i-D magazine in 1996, shot by Juergen Teller. She soon rose to prominence, walking the runway for esteemed designers including Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Versace, John Galliano and Jean-Paul Gaultier. More recently, Erin has walked for Tom Ford and Willy Chavarria. Karl Lagerfeld once described O’Connor as “one of the best models in the world” and Erin has been photographed by industry giants including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, David Bailey, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh and Tim Walker. Erin featured in the Channel 4 documentary This Model Life in 2003, and has since written and presented two documentaries about fashion for BBC Radio 4, as well as contributing articles to British Vogue, The Times, i-D, and GQ. Alongside her modelling, Erin is an advocate for model well-being and mental health. Through her position as Vice Chair of the British Fashion Council Erin founded Model Sanctuary, a non-profit initiative, providing support and resources for models during fashion week. Since 2011, Erin has been an ambassador for Save the Children and is an ambassador for Borne, a UK-based medical research charity dedicated to preventing premature birth and improving outcomes for mothers and babies. In recognition of her substantial contributions to fashion and charitable causes, Erin was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Erin O’Connor discuss walking for Alexander McQueen, coming from a working class background and being described as aristocratic, and holding her own against an unfriendly Feminist. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Chapters: 00:00:00 Advertisement for Claude 00:00:41 Intro 00:01:03 What are you wearing today? 00:02:08 Self image 00:07:34 “Aristocratic” beauty 00:11:05 Self-suppression 00:15:25 Transitioning from girl to woman 00:28:00 Advertisement for Claude 00:29:17 Alter egos 00:30:42 Erin’s Model friends 00:36:20 Support in the industry 00:41:30 Collaborating with designers 00:45:13 Favourite models 00:50:46 Androgyny and sexiness 00:55:48 If you fancy someone… 00:58:36 Advertisement for Claude 01:00:00 Alexander McQueen 01:07:00 Feminism and fashion 01:11:00 Memoirs 01:17:00 Outro 01:17:33 Advertisement for Claude