September 9, 2025 |
Fifteen minutes before my interview with British supermodel Erin O’Connor, 47, is due to start, I’m drawn to a picture on her Instagram Story. She’s sitting on a chair, dressed casually, with overlaying text that reads “Post-gardening/pre-interview”. This may be her off-duty ensemble, but what’s significant is the way she’s positioned herself in the most ordinary of places. From a jawline that could cut through metal to her elegant legs, O’Connor is every bit the statuesque figure in whatever setting she’s in.
“There are sexy women, and then there’s Sophia Neophitou. She oozes sensuality,” says O’Connor, diving into our interview with endearing thoughts about 10’s own global editor-in-chief, whom she pays tribute to in this shoot. “In 30 years of fashion shows, I have never seen her in a flat shoe. I’ve followed her toned calves around the globe,” she says with a laugh. These aren’t just personal recollections, but rather anecdotes that helped the supermodel portray and embody Sophia for both this issue’s cover and an accompanying editorial shoot. Armed with a toolkit of props and clothes that mirror Neophitou’s aesthetic, O’Connor says, “She’s the epitome of vitality. Whether you’re hearing her laugh or watching her walk, she has this unbridled excitement you absorb, which makes her slightly easier to emulate.”
Rewinding three decades to the year 1995, a 17-year-old O’Connor is roaming around Clothes Show Live at the NEC Arena in Birmingham. Unbeknownst to her, this day would change her life forever. “A model scout approached me and asked to take a few Polaroids. That might sound quite normal today, but remember this is pre-iPhones,” she says. “I was conscious of my braces and that my nose stuck out more than my boobs, which were then competing with my long feet. But all the things I was trying to hide, this person embraced.” That chance encounter, which was followed by a call to her parents made from the nearest phone box, and later a train ride to London to meet her new agency, became the starting point. What followed after that can only be described as a cross between a whirlwind and a cornucopia of couture that propelled her from Walsall in the West Midlands into the upper echelons of fashion.
from left: chest piece by DURAN LANTINK, shoes by BALENCIAGA; GUCCI
After making the move to London, O’Connor appeared on the cover of i-D as a bare-faced, graphic tee-wearing, tongue-out teenager. The shot was the outcome of a session with Juergen Teller, who, as she recalls, “didn’t see any reason why I needed to change the clothes I was wearing or have make-up on”. Adored for her talent by Karl Lagerfeld, at the helm of Chanel then, she landed her first campaign for the house and was described by him as “one of the best models in the world” – and he was a man who wasn’t known for mincing his words. “From the very start, he was always nurturing and gentle with me,” says O’Connor of her years working with the fashion maestro. During her initial Gucci show casting, she was instructed to “put on heels and walk” in front of Tom Ford. When she did it, she overheard Ford say “chic”, which would be the single-word confirmation that secured her a spot in what she affirms was “the most coveted show to walk in”. She would later be told by the show’s hair and make-up artist, Dick Page, that Ford had said about her, “I have just found the next Anjelica Huston.” In addition to the titan that O’Connor found herself in front of that day, she met a young Christopher Bailey (who would later have a famed reign at Burberry, a house she still walks for), who, as she describes, “provided comfort in the flying fabric chaos of the casting”. After literally “bumping into” Richard Avedon at Pier59 Studios in New York, the photographer introduced himself to her by saying, “I’ve been following that nose of yours around all season.”
from left: jacket by SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO, chest piece by DURAN LANTINK, shoes by JIMMY CHOO; VERSACE
That conversation would start a collaboration leading to Avedon lensing O’Connor for a Versace campaign. After “500 Polaroids and some robust Italian coffee”, she walked into her first fitting for Miu Miu and, not knowing what Miuccia Prada looked like at the time, made the assumption she wasn’t in the room. After walking around “the pristine white studio”, a voice emerged asking her if she liked the look she was wearing, to which the model replied, “I do. Green is my favourite colour.” Those words would seal the deal for O’Connor to walk for the house and verification of what Mrs Prada looked like. Later, she appeared on a first-class Royal Mail stamp sporting a range of hats by milliners such as Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones, regarding it as one of her “biggest career breaks”.
from left: BALMAIN; ALAIA
The new century, and the decade it ushered in, brought with it an array of era-defining fashion moments, of which O’Connor wasn’t just a part, but a firm fixture. Whether it was Alexander McQueen’s SS01 Voss show or the John Galliano AW05 couture show for Dior, she wasn’t just modelling the clothes but also the countless characters that came with them. You just have to watch an archive FashionTV video of her to understand she has played enough characters on the catwalk to make a Netflix series. “I enjoy the transformative mode the most. The more a character poses a challenge, the more I want to bring them to life,” she says. Additionally, her chameleon-like abilities have been lent to creatives such as photographer Nick Knight and illustrator David Downton, who have captured her through their lens and pens. Describing her viewpoint of multiple mediums, she says, “I’m not interested in being passive or just being a recipient of someone else’s creativity. I need that collaborative stimulation. Doing so allows me to help who I’m working with to bring that concept or character to life.” After a short break in 2014, during which she gave birth to her first son, Albert, she received an offer from Marc Jacobs to walk in his AW15 show. “I was getting offers from Marc and Mothercare,” she says of the extremity of her life then. “It was an interesting stage when I had to balance these two opposing identities.” After accepting Jacobs’s offer, she says, “I had genuine stage fright for the first time in my life. Perhaps because of the beautiful transition to becoming someone’s mother, everything felt more heightened.” She opened the show as if she’d never been away.
from left: BALENCIAGA; jacket and trousers by GIORGIO ARMANI
What is perhaps the most remarkable thing about these stories is that they only begin to scratch the surface; capturing her career in a single article is like trying to put a Galliano gown through a keyhole. Now a mum of two (Eddie was born in 2019), with an MBE award and an ADHD diagnosis, she is still at the top of her game. Whether she’s starring in a recent Mulberry campaign or closing shows for independent labels like Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, she shatters any stereotypes that models and women stop after a certain age.
from left: blazer and skirt by GIVENCHY BY SARAH BURTON; jacket and skirt by ROLAND MOURET, shoes by SERGIO ROSSI
So, what’s the best thing about looking back on it all now? “My children. They are at an age where they are starting to understand it all, which means I’m able to share it with them. That’s very special,” she says. When considering everything we’ve spoken about, I have the sudden urge to pose a question: will there be a memoir? After a slight pause, she thoughtfully tells me, “I’ve been thinking about a project, but I’m not in any rush. It’s only been 30 years, let’s see if I can repeat that.” It seems that whatever O’Connor has planned for the foreseeable, she will continue putting her best foot forward – on and off the catwalk.
10 Magazine’s 25 anniversary issue is out on newsstands September 15. Pre-order your copy here.
EDITRIX
Photographer THOMAS HAUSER
Fashion Editor KLAUS STOCKHAUSEN
Talent ERIN O’CONNOR
Text JORDAN WAKE
Hair STELIOS CHONDROS at Julian Watson Agency using ORIBE Hair Care
Make-up ADAM DE CRUZ at One Represents using VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY
Fashion assistant DAVIDE ZIANTONI
Hair assistant MARIJA PAVLEKA at Uschi Rabe
Special thanks to CHARLIE CLARK-PERRY at Supa Model Management, MARKUS ANDERSON at Soho House and MYTHERESA
Necklaces throughout by SABRINA DEHOFF, tights throughout by FALKE
On the cover ERIN wears GUCCI
from left: LOUIS VUITTON; jacket by LOUIS VUITTON
