Kate, Naomi, Alexa... The fashion world is no stranger to a Brit girl done good. But of late, there's been a distinct sense of young British models flying the flag for Team GB across all sorts of different ponds. And these girls won't settle for bronze, they're going for gold.
Team Captain status surely goes to Cara Delevingne, who has taken the fashion world by storm with her big eyebrows and even bigger personality. At just 20 years old, Cara's pretty lengthy CV includes; campaigns for Chanel, Burberry and DKNY; a British Vogue cover; The British Fashion Awards' Model of the year award 2012; and an appearance in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina. Over the Spring/Summer 13 fashion weeks, Miss Delevingne modelled 54 looks in 38 shows, spending about 49 hours backstage and four and a half hours on the catwalk. Wow, I got tired just from typing all that.
Native Londoner Cara is making waves in New York, Paris and Milan, with big names such as Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld taking a particular shine to her. She's also struck up a friendship with Rihanna, and walked in the pop star's debut collection for River Island last month. Basically, it seems like everyone, everywhere wants a piece of the quirky girl from Belgravia- who has a legion of over half a million twitter fans. Me? Jealous?, of course not...
Jourdan Dunn is another Brit girl who can pack a serious fashion punch. The 22-year-old West Londoner has had international success; appearing in Vogue, British Vogue and Vogue Italia; walking for super brands such as Prada; and most recently appearing as one of the faces of Rihanna for River Island. Last summer, she walked alongside industry legends Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell in the Olympic Closing Ceremony, proving her worth as a key player in the fashion world.
Another front runner in the race to be British model of the moment is 23-year-old Edie Campbell, a Londoner who is a regular on the catwalks of Valentino and Chanel, and the current face of brands including Saint Laurent Paris and Burberry (alongside Romeo Beckham). The model/equestrienne was also recently named as the cover star of British Vogue's April edition. Edie is certainly proving to the world that Britannia rules the runways.
And apparently success really does breed success, as a team of young British models are following suit. Queue Rosie Tapner. At 17, Rosie is one of those annoyingly successful teenagers we all kind of wish we could be. She's still at school, and while she may not be old enough to vote or buy a legal Cosmo, she's managed to bag herself spots in campaigns for Chloé and Topshop. Along with Rosie are fellow Fashion Mensa* members Lara Mullen, Sam Rollinson and Charlotte Wiggins who have all appeared in the pages of British Vogue. Charlotte is Liverpudlian and Sam is from Doncaster, proving that you don't have to be born and bred in the big smoke to make a name for yourself in the fashion industry. These supermodels-in-training are catching Cara up in the race to be Britain's number one.
Watch out, fashion world- Team GB is at its personal best.
*This is not a real thing, obviously.