Supermodel Erin O'Connor resisted plastic surgery early in her career

Nov 25 2009 by Kat Keogh, Birmingham Mail

SHE’S graced the covers of countless fashion magazines and the catwalks of the world’s top designers.

But Walsall supermodel Erin O’Connor has revealed how she was told to have cosmetic surgery during the early days of her career.

The 6ft Brownhills beauty, who is known for her striking looks, said she was urged to go under the knife in order to succeed in the fashion industry.

“I think the industry was uncomfortable with how strikingly different I was,” the 31-year-old said.

“For example, I was told to have a nose job and get my breasts done. But I suddenly got very stubborn and thought ‘Well, no.”

“This is me,’ and suddenly I was being hailed as ‘a new form of beauty’.”

Vogue cover girl Erin, who was spotted by a scout while at Birmingham’s Clothes Show Live exhibition in 1995, added that her appearance marked her out as “different” during her teenage years.

“I certainly wasn’t bullied or targeted,” she said.

“But I was acutely aware of how physically different I was to my peers. In my final school photographs, taken at GCSE-level, we were arranged according to height, so I’m stood at the back with a bunch of burly men.”

Erin has taken time out from her career modelling for the likes of Chanel, Versace and Armani for a BBC Radio 4 documentary In Search of Beauty, which will be broadcast on Saturday.

The programme looks at opinions on beauty and goes behind the scenes at London Fashion Week to a catwalk show which featured models of all ages and sizes.

“The ‘beauty’ pretty much encapsulates the modelling industry,” added Erin.

“It’s a word that is overrated and often misused, yet it remains uniquely powerful. My own appearance has often come up for speculation and I thought it would be an interesting subject to tackle. Because although my face, if you will, has been my fortune, the reaction to my unconventional looks has been very character forming.”