Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Fifteen years old and already modelling in Milan Fashion Week
MANY of her classmates are stuck doing homework and preparing for exams.
But Olivia Forsbrook is 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.
Forsbrook, 52, 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.
The 1.73m teenager, who lives in the UK, 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.
“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.”
She made her appearance on the catwalk on 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.
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 year, plans to study textiles as a stepping stone to fashion design. – Daily Mail