Tali Lennox, daughter of the singer Annie Lennox, is at 18 already a catwalk sensation. Her Fashion Week diary gives an insight into her hectic schedule.
Tali Lennox, 18, has taken the fashion industry by storm since her modelling debut in the Topshop 2010 Christmas campaign shot by Josh Olins. Having left school after A-levels, the daughter of the singer Annie Lennox and the Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtman made her catwalk debut last September in London, walking for Acne, Christopher Kane, Jaeger, Jonathan Saunders and Burberry, followed by Prada, Missoni, Miu Miu, Cavalli in Milan and Chanel in Paris - a remarkable feat for a new face in the industry. This season Lennox appears in campaigns for Burberry and Acne and her catwalk appearances include Marc Jacobs, Prada, Missoni, Burberry, House of Holland and Issa. She lives in west London with her mother and her sister Lola, a singer and model. Here she describes her roller-coaster schedule during London Fashion Week.
Thursday
9.30am Flew into London from New York Fashion Week, which was a lot of work but ended well with the Jeremy Scott show last night. I was covered in crazy make-up and glitter, which I had to scrub off in time for my flight. Vic, my driver, picked me up from the airport and took me home where I had 20 minutes to transform myself from tired and disgruntled to fashion-fresh. No time for a shower.
12pm Went to my agency, Next Models, to touch base with Amanda, my booker, and the team there. Then I spent the whole day at castings and fittings. This is my second season in London and Im much more confident about where Im going and what Im doing. Designers know me, and after trying on a couple of outfits they can confirm me, which is nice because last season I just did casting after casting, hoping to get a fitting. Seeing the new girls starting out reminds me of how much Ive learnt since I started. Im lucky that Next provides a driver to take me to all my fittings. Other girls, who are new to modelling, arrive at their agency from the airport to be given 20 castings to go to by foot.
Tali Lennox takes a step into the limelight
Friday
11am More fittings all day. 7pm Finally finished fittings. There were a few fashion parties to go to but I was too tired and headed to Notting Hill to have dinner and a catch-up with my dad at an Italian called Essenza. Its always good to see family after a long day at fashion week because life in fashion is so concentrated and its good to step out of it for a while.
10pm I found out the news that I was already confirmed for eight shows, which was a tremendous feeling and a big privilege. It was amazing to be at home, even though Im the only one in my house at the moment. My mum and sister were both in Malawi working on my mums charitable projects. Its funny how in my family we each have our own journeys going on at the same time, and we have such contrasting adventures. Were not what many would call conventional but for me the dynamic is great, and I feel both inspired by and proud of what each member of my family is accomplishing. I try to keep in touch with my mum as much as possible when either she or I am away for work. Its so nice exchanging stories of our travels and shes always so excited to hear about my experiences.
In pictures: Tali Lennox models for Acne
Saturday
7am I rushed to Somerset House for my first show, Betty Jackson, thinking I was late for call time but as usual I realised that I was the first person there. I like to get to shows a good hour before call time, which is normally two or three hours before the show, because I hate being late for things. I hung out with my friends Amber Anderson and Eliza Cummings, both British models. Backstage the atmosphere was easygoing and the whole team and Betty were really nice. The collection was feminine and pretty but with added quirkiness and seemed to draw inspiration from modern Japanese styles, which I love. I had rubber tights glued to my thighs with talcum powder to stop them falling down. The show started at 11am and I had three looks, two red and one black. I didnt realise how tight the bottom of one of the skirts was so I think my walk was probably pretty dodgy.
12.15pm At John Rocha the clothes were amazing. I had two beautiful outfits. One a ponyskin blood-red coat with buckled black boots, the other a long black textured dress. The hair and make-up was really cool, a bit feral. I got pieces of chopped-up fur put in my eyebrows and my hair was braided up.
4.15pm John Rocha ran over time, so I quickly went to Issa and I realised my good friend Charlotte Tilbury was doing the make-up for the show, and another friend, her niece Sophia, was helping out, which was a nice surprise. I managed to have a quick gossip and catch up over a glass of champagne with Sophia before being rushed to hair and make-up. I let myself be a puppet while they took off my make-up and started again. In half an hour they managed to turn me from a feral creature into a bronzed Brazilian glamazon with a massive hairpiece. I wore a printed minidress with a thin scarf around my neck and long blue leather gloves. Im not used to doing glamorous and feminine (my work so far has been more hard, androgynous looks) but its a fun show, with Anna Beatriz Barros, Yasmin Le Bon and Andrea Dellal modelling too.
5.15pm I jumped in a taxi on the Strand and rushed over to the House of Holland show at the Old Sorting Office in New Oxford Street. I was really late and as soon as I walked in I had three people doing my hair, five on make-up, people on nails, all freaking out. Henry Holland rushed over, apologising and thanking me for coming. I didnt get fitted for his show, even though Id never walked for him before, so I had no idea what my two outfits were or what the run-through was like. I just managed to make it into my look then realised the dressers had put me in my second outfit (a tiger print skirt, coat and a Hawt Couture T-shirt), not my first (a pink tweed skirt suit), so I quickly changed and made it on to the runway in the nick of time.
7pm I took a cab to Burberry House for a fitting. It was nice to see the team again after I shot a campaign for them in December, which is out this month. Then on to a Topshop Unique fitting on Berners Street with Katie Grand, who is really lovely. I first met her when I did an editorial shoot for the current issue of Love magazine last year. After that I was supposed to go to the Club Monaco party at Browns but I had to miss it for a Julien Macdonald fitting. Juliens collection was incredible; all gothic and knitted and amazing.
11pm I got home and usually Id feel a bit tired by then but I felt really excited and happy to be home.
