Boundary-breaking is a familiar term to British Model, Jourdan Dunn, 32, a woman so renowned in the industry that at eight-months pregnant, Jean Paul Gaultier made her a custom corset for his SS10 catwalk.
While Jourdan’s career may have taken her to the top, she is also aware of the support she can provide for those starting out.
This weekend, she was spotted front row in Milan at the Ferragamo show, cheering on Manchester designer Maximilian Davis as he debuted his first collection at the house.
It comes after her chocker London Fashion Week, and proves that home and abroad, she is a support to young British Talent.
After a serendipitous fall into a modelling career at 15 (she was scouted in the Hammersmith Primark by Storm Model Management), Dunn has gone on to become one of the most successful British supermodels of her generation.
The first black model to walk in a Prada show for a decade (an accolade also reflecting on a lack of diversity within the industry), she has graced some of the world’s most coveted magazine covers including Vogue, W, Elle and i-D - not forgetting her appearance as one one of nine British models in the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony alongside Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Lily Cole.
This London Fashion Week alone, Dunn has attended eight shows (Fashion East, Poster Girl, KNWLS, Masha Popova, Dilara Findikoglu, JW Anderson and Christopher Kane). For the model, attending a breadth of shows is important to her. “It’s enriching for me to get that mix each season,” she tells the Evening Standard.
Her celebration and support of young designers, while at the same time being wanted by the world’s top brands (she recently walked the BOSS show in Milan), is a testament to her nature and refreshing attitude in an industry that so often relies on big names.
Ukrainian-born designer and Central Saint Martins graduate Masha Popova knows that Dunn’s support is imperative. “As an emerging designer this support is integral to our brand’s trajectory and it’s amazing to see – she is the perfect Masha woman,” Popova says. With 3.4 million Instagram followers, daily paparazzi swarms, and general media attention, Dunn sits on her own when getting the press to notice. Her attendance at Popova’s debut show kitted out in her collection is something young designers dream of.
Dunn’s understanding of the power of her platform is what makes her invaluable to a designer. Following the show, an eight-picture post on Instagram documenting the event and her outfit was shared, simply captioned ‘MASHA POPOVA’, giving the designer a platform on which to springboard sales and press for the new collection.
Dunn describes the moment as a “rare opportunity to support FROW, aesthetically with your outfit, whilst also watching the designer develop their skill and art”. She honours them as the “future of fashion” and goes on to tell us: “they’re the designers who are leading with creativity and courage, young designers now have most likely risen during a time of austerity and need our support more than ever. Their grit, determination and talent has got them to the level they’re at and we need to encourage and embrace them”.
For Popova, a designer whose Ukrainian heritage has made this past year a particularly challenging time, the sentiment of Dunn’s words could not ring more true.
Dunn works hard for the change she is determined to bring about in the industry but it is a struggle to know how she balances it all. On a rundown of her typical day-in-the-life during Fashion Week, the model revealed some of her secrets: ‘Day-to-day varies but it’s always a calm start, I like to plan in which shows I have in advance so I wake knowing my exact plans for the day. I’ll light some scented candles and my incense” - her favourite of the moment being Les by Boy Smells (£42).
“Then hair and makeup start to arrive, we get some tunes on and we start work! It’s always a really fun environment because it’s a super tight team and everyone is an expert at what they do”.
In true supermodel fashion, Dunn typically attends each show in a different outfit: “I don’t change in the car now - though I have done in the past - but there are some very quick changes involved at times!”
But she doesn’t seem to mind the chaos: “I love the buzz though – it’s always a good time”.
