Erin O’Connor

Erin O'Connor is a British high-fashion model who has achieved international prominence through her extensive work on fashion runways, magazine covers, commercial campaigns, and media projects. Designer Karl Lagerfeld described her as one of the best models in the world. Alongside her modelling career, she has engaged in broadcasting, journalism, advocacy, and charity work.

O'Connor was born on 9 February 1978 and was brought up in Brownhills, West Midlands, where she attended Brownhills Community School. She was raised Catholic, and her father originates from Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. She was discovered by a talent scout while attending a school trip to Birmingham's Clothes Show Live.

Her first published pictures were photographed by Juergen Teller for the December 1996 issue of i-D magazine. She went on to model on the catwalk for major designers and fashion houses, including John Galliano, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Prada, Versace, Miu Miu, Jasper Conran, Giorgio Armani, Julien Macdonald, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chado Ralph Rucci, Badgley Mischka, and Dolce & Gabbana. O'Connor has worked with leading fashion photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, David Sims, Bryan Adams, and Nadav Kander.

Her editorial work includes feature appearances in Vogue, W, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Harpers & Queen, i-D, and Visionaire, as well as a January cover for British Vogue. Since 2005, O'Connor has served as one of the faces of the British high-street chain Marks and Spencer. In 2008, she launched the haircare brand model.me for Toni & Guy alongside Jamelia and Helena Christensen. She is signed with Tess Management in London.

O'Connor's media career spans television, radio, and journalism. She appeared as herself in a 2001 episode of Absolutely Fabulous and featured in the 2003 Channel 4 documentary series This Model Life. For BBC Radio 4, she wrote and presented the documentaries Erin's Model World and In Search of Beauty. She served as a judge and mentor on the Irish reality series The Model Agent in 2009 and joined Naomi Campbell and Caroline Winberg on the 2013 competition show The Face. As a writer, she has contributed to The Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, British Vogue online, and the London Fashion Week paper The Daily Rubbish.

In 2009, O'Connor co-founded All Walks Beyond the Catwalk alongside Caryn Franklin and Debra Bourne to challenge industry body and beauty standards. She has served as a spokesperson for Traid and as an ambassador for RED, Save the Children, and the medical research charity Borne. She also launched a line of fair-trade, eco-friendly cotton T-shirts and bags with stylist Kate Halfpenny.

O'Connor gave birth to her first son in 2014 and her second son in 2019. In the 2017 Birthday Honours, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to fashion and charity.