Schoolgirl, 15, to sashay down Milan catwalk ... after mum sends picture to top designer!
MANY of her classmates will use half-term to prepare for the dreaded GCSE exams that are on the horizon.
But Olivia Forsbrook will spend next week’s school break on the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week – after her mother emailed a designer to recommend the 15-year-old.
Olivia will become one of the youngest Britons to appear at the event, less than a year after being signed by an agency.
She has appeared at London Fashion Week and made the finals of the Top Model UK competition, but will now make her debut on the continent thanks to the efforts of her mother Joanne.
Mrs Forsbrook, 52, yesterday described how she sent an email to up- and- coming designer Chanel Joan Elkayam and was stunned to receive a reply that evening.
The designer was so impressed that she offered Olivia the chance to show off her latest creations in Milan, despite snow causing Olivia to miss a casting session in the designer’s home city of Manchester.
The 5ft 7in teenager, from Worcestershire, said: ‘It’s been an absolute whirlwind. I’m looking forward to meeting the big designers. It meant a lot to me that Chanel chose me to walk in her clothes. One of my friends had done work with Chanel before and that is how I noticed her and I really like her clothing too.
‘I’d love to work for all the big brands. Modelling has been the number one thing I’ve wanted to do and hopefully I can do it for a very long time.’
Olivia spent yesterday studying for her GCSEs with friends from her school in Droitwich.
But any revising next week will be done on the flights either side of her appearance on the catwalk next Thursday.
Olivia had initially emailed the designer last autumn to introduce herself, and was invited to a casting in Manchester in December, which she missed after being left snowbound in Worcestershire.
Mrs Forsbrook then emailed the designer, who is herself only 20, this month with a selection of head shots and videos of Olivia on the catwalk.
She said: ‘By that evening I’d had a reply. We couldn’t believe it. She said that she really wanted Olivia to walk for her and would make her a dress.’
Olivia is signed to the agency BAME Models. Her father Mark, 57, a retired fireman, drives her to events around the country. The teenager, who turns 16 after her exams this summer, plans to study textiles in sixth-form as a stepping stone to fashion design.
‘An absolute whirlwind’