Our girl Laura back turning heads at London Fashion Week

Eimear Rabbitte

THIS is the Dublin teenager taking London Fashion Week by storm.

Schoolgirl Laura O'Grady (18) made waves on the catwalk when she opened the show for international designer Bora Asku on the first day of London Fashion Week last Friday.

But despite her low profile, this was not the first time for the Leaving Cert student to grace the world famous fashion event.

She took part in three fashion shows in her first season of London Fashion Week in September last year after being offered contracts by two modelling agencies in the UK.

The Castleknock teenager is represented at home by Distinct Model Management and was signed by Select Model Management in London last summer.

Her agent Anne Morgan decided to take Laura abroad in 2012 after deciding that her "international look" was best suited for the catwalk overseas.

edgy

And Laura agrees that her edgy look is more suited to the runway. "I am definitely more of a runway/editorial model, based on my look," she told the Herald. "Anything high fashion is really up my street and is something I have a really strong passion for."

While London is definitely calling for the student once she finishes her studies in June, Laura would not rule out other countries.

"I would love to move to London as it has such an incredible fashion industry which is amazing to be a part of and work in but of course I would love to travel.

"Some of the biggest fashion capitals such as London, Paris, Milan and New York are all quite unique from one another so it would be great to experience as much as possible once I finish school," she added.

The teenager who loves painting, cooking and writing in her spare time, returned to Dublin last September where she is now in sixth year at Mount Sackville Secondary School in Chapelizod.

She is studying hard for her Leaving Cert whilst juggling international bookings for some of the top fashion magazines across Europe such as Pop, Fraulein and Rollacoster.

Immediately after her mocks this month, Laura flew back to London for her second London Fashion Week where she has walked for Bora Aksu Irish Designer Orla Kiely and JJS Lee.

Despite looking forward to getting her teeth into the international modelling scene full-time, Laura would also love to sample the college lifestyle and is just taking it one day at a time.

Laura was discovered by model scout Anne Morgan of Distinct Model Management when she entered a competition in Dundrum Town Centre back in 2010 at the age of 15. "The first thing I noticed about Laura, apart from her completely unique look, was her incredible knowledge of the industry," said Anne.