Models are typically discovered in their early teens, just as most of us are beginning to understand the way we look and the effect it has on other people. Being singled out might bolster an otherwise precarious sense of self. But how much reassurance can a scout really offer amid the adolescent indignities of spots, braces and push-up bras? “You hit 16 and you just want to look like everyone else,” says model Harriet Wellock, whose abundant red hair and delicate, almost elfin features call to mind a young Karen Elson. “While it was flattering to be scouted, it was kind of dampening for me. I had one side of my life telling me I was attractive in this very particular way, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I just wanted boys to fancy me.”
Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2027.
GoRunway.comWellock was just 11 when Jane Duval, who discovered Alexa Chung, approached her in a Crouch End supermarket. It would be another decade before she set foot on a catwalk. In the meantime, she focused on her studies, graduating from Oxford with a degree in English language and literature this summer. Then came a debut few models could dream of: a global exclusive opening Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2027 show at Paris Fashion Week. “People kept coming up to me all day saying, ‘You know this is insane, right?’,” she adds. “I increasingly felt like I was building towards something quite drastic, but I was so busy that I didn’t have much time to think.” How does she see herself now, having spent almost half of her life being told her looks could take her places, and watching that promise become reality? “Divided,” she says. “The model who looks a certain way and the person who talks about it.”
Get to know the model of the moment a little better in the conversation below.
Hi Harriet! Were you into fashion growing up?
“I’ve always cared about what I wear. When I went to nursery, my parents would have to wrestle the plastic magazine jewellery off me, and I remember begging them for a pair of Lelli Kellys. That interest took on a more editorial direction when I was scouted. I’d go to Good News in Soho for magazines, and my friends and I would stage fake photoshoots.”
You were 11 when you first got scouted. Set the scene.
“I got scouted by someone called Jane Duval, who discovered Alexa Chung, when I was grocery shopping for my mum in Crouch End during the summer holidays. I looked really different then: I had basically no eyebrows; I looked like an elf. And she was like, ‘You look so young, but I have to give you my card.’ I gave it to my parents, who were like, ‘This is so cool!’ And from that point onwards, I basically got scouted a lot whenever I went out in London.”
Had you given much thought to how you looked?
“Not at all. A lot of my friends’ parents would tell me I looked unusual, and sometimes I’d walk into a room and people would be like, ‘Look at that girl.’ I knew I didn’t look ‘normal’, especially then. I was quite waifish. I also went to an all-girls school until sixth form, so I skipped that early sexualisation thing, thankfully. But then you hit 16 and you kind of just want to look like everyone else. I got really bad skin, had to have braces, would straighten my hair all the time and wear push-up bras that I couldn’t fill. I just didn’t love how I looked.”
Your hair is such a signature.
“I forget that I have red hair because people forget what they look like. But it’s always been a massive part of my identity, partly because it’s so red. Before people know my name, I’m ‘the ginger girl’. My hair precedes me, basically, and I love it. That hasn’t always been the case, though. During that 16-year-old phase, when you don’t like anything that makes you different, I dyed it brown.”
Did being scouted offer any reassurance when you were feeling like that?
“It was kind of dampening for me. I had one side of my life telling me I was attractive in this very particular way, but that wasn’t what I wanted at the time. I wanted boys to fancy me. It’s always been flattering, but I couldn’t quite believe it at that point.”
And how do you feel about being judged on your appearance now?
“I’ve worked in pubs, been a nanny and volunteered as a tour guide at Kenwood House. This is an amazing job, but it’s also just another job. And when you’re surrounded by people discussing your appearance as something very objective, it becomes like a skill in any other profession; it becomes less affecting. If you’re a lawyer, someone might say, ‘Oh, you argue this so well.’ In modelling, how you look becomes a useful part of the job. I suppose I feel like a divided self: the model who looks a certain way and the person who talks about it.”
In the meantime, you went to Oxford.
“I studied English literature at Christ Church, Oxford, and wrote my dissertation on solitude in John Milton’s . I really went for it. It was the best three years of my life.”
And then, two months after graduating, you opened Louis Vuitton as a global exclusive. How did that happen?
“My launch had been discussed for years, but it was never the right time. My agents started talking about it again this summer, like, ‘Now is the time. Let’s do it.’ And so I started getting ready, running again, and becoming a lot healthier. My first casting was with Ashley Brokaw in Paris, who put me up for Dior, but that never came through because my walk was really bad. (I have this annoying shoulder that likes to go up when I’m nervous, so I look all lopsided.) I then went back to Paris for Louis Vuitton, but not before my French agents gave me a crash course in walking, which was so, so intense. They were shouting like, ‘You’ve got to confirm this! You can do it!’ The casting ended up going well, but I was told that I’d only be able to confirm the job if I stayed in Paris to practice walking, and show them the progress after three days. I found out I’d got the job as soon as I was back in London, when I was on the top deck of a packed bus, on my way to a friend’s film screening, with all my suitcases.”
How have your friends responded?
“The crazy thing about the uni I went to is that people do really impressive things very quickly. A friend from my course has just filmed a TV show. We all feel like we’re living quite high-voltage lives, so this didn’t feel totally insane. Still, my friends were like, ‘Oh my God.’ We all went out, and then I had to go to Paris for a lookbook and fittings the next morning.”
What’s it been like going from academic tutorial to a room full of fashion people?
“It’s tricky because people talk around models a lot, which I have to get used to. I’ve spent the last three years trying to be as articulate as possible and prioritising thought and speech, so the difference is stark. I do think it takes a certain intelligence to navigate these rooms and corporations, though. My friends are going into law, and I’m entering another huge industry. There are big egos to navigate and rooms to read. The skills are transferable. Honestly, I feel like Oxford prepares you for anything. As a student, I had daily cortisol spikes from talking to terrifying professors, so that takes the edge off. Still, I had so much adrenaline that I didn’t take the Métro once. I had to walk it off. Luckily the weather was beautiful, and you know when everything feels like a ready-made movie? It really felt filmic.”
Talk me through the build-up to stepping onto the runway.
“Oh my God. People kept coming up to me all day saying, ‘You know this is insane, right? You’re making your debut opening Louis Vuitton.’ I felt like I was building towards something quite drastic, but I was so busy that I didn’t have much time to think. Then we got to the final line-up. There’s a screen backstage where you can see all the celebrities coming in, and when I saw Emma Stone, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m really, really nervous.’ That was freaky. My heart started going. The last thing I thought before I stepped out was, ‘Shoulder.’ I imagined my agents saying, ‘Put it down.’ I sort of blanked when I went out. The adrenaline was so high that I felt quite dizzy afterwards. When I came off the runway, Nicolas gave me a massive thumbs-up, and I was like, ‘Thank God…’ He’s the sweetest guy: smiley, calm, self-assured. One of those designers who really, really just wants the girls to feel good.”
What did you make of the look they chose for your debut?
“It was more ingénue than sexy or dramatic, which felt appropriate for a debut. It was simple and, for me, represented the turn in fashion this season towards something quite light and transparent.”
How did you celebrate?
“I walked down the Champs-Élysées in a daze and crossed the Pont Neuf without realising it. I didn’t know where I was going. Then I snapped back into action and met Bebe Parnell and a few other models for Thai food in Pigalle, followed by drinks at Lipstick, where we played Boom It. I was working the next morning, though, so I had to go home a little early.”
What would you love to do next, in modelling or beyond?
“ is the pinnacle, and I’d love to shoot with Nadia Lee Cohen. But I have other things on the boil, too: an internship with Working Title (I love to act); and I’m quite into the literary scene in London, so anything in a creative, writerly direction would suit me well. I’m basically throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.”
Finally, what would you say to an 11-year-old who’s just been scouted?
“It’s amazing, but don’t think about it for a while. So much of what has made me the model I am has come from focusing on other things. Other than that, put your phone down, read and don’t pick your skin.”