Twiggy

Dame Lesley Lawson, widely known by her nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. Born Lesley Hornby, she became a British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during the Swinging Sixties in London. Recognizable for her thin build, short haircut, big eyes, and long eyelashes, she achieved international fame after being named The Face of 1966 by the Daily Express and voted British Woman of the Year.

Twiggy was born on 19 September 1949 and raised in Neasden, then part of Middlesex and later a suburb of north-west London. She was the third daughter of Nellie Lydia, a printing factory worker, and William Norman Hornby, a carpenter and joiner. She attended Brondesbury and Kilburn High School. Her mother taught her to sew from an early age, enabling her to make her own clothing. While working as a Saturday girl at a London hairdressing salon, she observed models in magazines and began considering fashion.

Her modelling career began in January 1966 when hairdresser Leonard of Mayfair styled her hair into a short crop in London. Photos taken by Barry Lategan caught the attention of Daily Express fashion journalist Deirdre McSharry, who arranged further photo shoots and featured her as The Face of '66. Her hairdresser boyfriend Nigel Davies became her manager, took the name Justin de Villeneuve, and suggested her professional name Twiggy. By 1967, she had become an international fashion sensation, modelling in France, Japan, and the United States, appearing on covers for publications such as Vogue and The Tatler, and launching her own clothing line called Twiggy Dresses.

Twiggy's distinct appearance drew both acclaim and criticism, with some commentators reacting negatively to her thin build. She later stated that her slim weight as a teenager was simply her natural build. After four years in the fashion industry, she retired from modelling in 1970 to expand into performing arts.

Twiggy transitioned into acting and music, making her screen debut as an extra in The Devils (1971) before starring as Polly Browne in Ken Russell's film adaptation of The Boy Friend (1971), a role that earned her two Golden Globe Awards in 1972. She subsequently launched a musical career, signing with Mercury Records in 1976 and releasing albums such as Twiggy and Please Get My Name Right, which produced the top-20 single Here I Go Again. On stage, she made her West End debut in Cinderella in 1974 and her Broadway debut in the 1983 musical My One and Only, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Throughout the following decades, Twiggy maintained an active career in television and film, appearing in projects such as The Blues Brothers, Pygmalion, Madame Sousatzka, and the American sitcom Princesses. In 1998, she published her best-selling autobiography Twiggy in Black and White. She later hosted the interview series Twiggy's People, served as a judge on America's Next Top Model, and returned to modelling in 2005 for Marks and Spencer television and print campaigns, where her appearances were credited with aiding the company's commercial revival.