Silk garter top, £3,655, leather belt, £395, short tights, and suspenders, both price on reques, all Saint Laurent by Anthon Vaccarello (ysl.com)
“I didn’t grow up thinking about myself in that context,” she says. “I just knew that I wanted to get to London and to travel the world. When I ended up modelling, I thought it would be super short-lived. Agents would say, “Save your money, you won’t be working by the time you’re 25.’ Historically, that was how it worked, models were like athletes. But my modelling career surpassed everyone’s expectations – most of all mine.”
Huntington-Whiteley made her catwalk debut in 2004. She walked for Valentino and Balmain, and by 2009 she was a Victoria’s Secret ‘Angel’ in the brand’s heyday, as well as a Burberry It girl. She describes plenty of lows, as well as the highs. “[Especially] early on, it didn’t come so easy,” she says.
“There were good months and bad months. There were lots of ups and downs. I’ve done everything from teen catalogues, to bridalwear, through to wonderful luxury campaigns with top photographers. But that experience, the rejection for many years, and pounding the pavements going on castings, or travelling in economy class for years then getting to a location in the middle of nowhere where no one spoke English… those things really built a lot of resilience in me.”
A lot of today’s top models get to skip the grunt work, she says, by virtue of being a ready-made Instagram star, or descending from a famous family. But Huntington-Whiteley says she wouldn’t change her route.
“A lot of girls now have come into the industry and have had this meteoric rise and come from really privileged backgrounds,” she says. “I feel fortunate to have started from the ground up. You understand the worth of something, and it’s so much sweeter when you achieve it. My true personal growth has come from being at rock bottom, or going through really challenging periods.”
From the get-go, she knew she needed to expand her career away from fashion shoots. Elle Macpherson and Cindy Crawford inspired her; models who had moved into television presenting, acting, designing and brand ownership. “If you’d asked me what my dream was when I set out, it was to do this [mix of roles],” she says. “I feel like I’m living it. And I know that sounds cheesy.”