Sophie Dahl

Sophie Dahl (born Sophie Holloway; 15 September 1977) is an English author and former fashion model. As a writer, she completed her first novella in 2003 entitled The Man with the Dancing Eyes and followed this with Playing With the Grown-ups in 2008. In 2010 she wrote Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, a cookery book which featured recipes that were recreated for a six-part BBC 2 series called The Delicious Miss Dahl.

Born in London, Dahl made her debut on the English catwalk in London's Fashion Week in the Autumn of 1997. That year, she was discovered by Isabella Blow, who was then a stylist for Vogue magazine. Blow introduced her to the management at the Storm Model Agency in London who signed her to a number of modelling campaigns including those for Versace, Alexander McQueen, Patrick Cox, DKNY, Boucheron and Pringle.

Dahl is the daughter of actor Julian Holloway and writer Tessa Dahl. Her maternal grandparents were the children's author Roald Dahl and the American actress Patricia Neal. Her paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and the former chorus dancer Violet Lane. Dahl was the inspiration for Sophie, the main character in her maternal grandfather's book The BFG. She is married to the singer Jamie Cullum.

Early life

Dahl was born Sophie Holloway in London to the actor Julian Holloway and the writer Tessa Dahl. As a child, Sophie led a turbulent lifestyle; she attended 10 schools and lived in 17 homes in various locations including London, New York, and India. Dahl often spent time at both her maternal and paternal grandparents' houses in Great Missenden and Angmering respectively. Dahl has noted that her childhood was "an odd one, but with such magic".

Career

Modelling

Dahl became interested in modelling after a chance meeting with the Vogue stylist Isabella Blow on the streets of West London. Blow found Dahl crying after an argument with her parents over her reluctance to study art history. Blow consoled her and introduced her to Sarah Doukas of the Storm Model Agency. Dahl made her modelling debut on the catwalk of Lainey Keogh's first major show, in London Fashion Week for Autumn 1997. Under their management, Dahl appeared in campaigns for Versace, Alexander McQueen, Patrick Cox, Pringle, and Gap, among others.

Dahl has worked with numerous notable photographers, including Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Steven Klein and Steven Meisel. Over the course of her career, she appeared in many editorials for high fashion magazines such as Visionaire, French and German Vogue, W, ID and V magazine. In 1997 she appeared with Kate Moss in the Elton John music video "Something About the Way You Look Tonight". In 2000, Dahl became the face of Yves Saint-Laurent's Opium. The ad, art-directed by Tom Ford and shot by Steven Meisel, was a photograph of Dahl with cherry red hair posing nude on black satin. It was removed from UK billboards after complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority. Accused of sexually objectifying women, it is in the top ten most-complained about advertisements of all time. Dahl responded to the criticism: "I think the photograph is beautiful... it was seen as being anti-women, when in fact I think it is very empowering to women". In 2012, Dahl was announced as the new face of Aubin & Wills.

Writing

Dahl has written extensively for Vogue, and in November 2012, she won a Jasmine award for her column about scent. In 2003 Dahl completed her first book, The Man with the Dancing Eyes, published by Bloomsbury Publishing. After this she began writing regularly for publications such as American Vogue, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer and the Saturday Times.

From 2005 Dahl was a contributing editor and regular columnist at Men's Vogue, prior to its closure in 2008. Dahl is the author of three other books: Playing with the Grown-Ups (2008) and two cook books, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights (2009) and From Season To Season (2011). She was a contributor to an anthology, Truth or Dare edited by Justine Picardie, which included works by Zoë Heller and William Fiennes. Dahl provided introductions to the Puffin Classic new edition of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the Virago Press re-issue of Stella Gibbons' 1938 novel Nightingale Wood which was released in April 2009, and Nancy Mitford's "Don't Tell Alfred", reissued by Penguin in March 2010.

During March and April 2010, Dahl wrote and presented a six-part cookery series entitled The Delicious Miss Dahl, which was broadcast on BBC 2. The following year, she filmed a documentary about the Victorian cook, Isabella Beeton which was transmitted on BBC2.

Personal life

Dahl comes from an artistic background, with notable grandparents on both sides. Her paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and the former chorus dancer Violet Lane. Her paternal lineage has been associated with the stage since 1850; Charles Bernard (1830–1894), an ancestor, was a successful Shakespearean actor and theatre manager both in London and the English provinces. Bernard's son, Oliver Percy Bernard OBE MC (1881–1939), was an English architect and scenic designer, responsible for the sets for Sir Thomas Beecham's Ring Cycle at Covent Garden. Her maternal grandparents were the author Roald Dahl and the American actress Patricia Neal.

On 9 January 2010 Dahl married the singer Jamie Cullum. They had their first child, a daughter named Lyra, on 2 March 2011; she was followed by a second daughter, Margot, on 4 March 2013. The family live in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

Notes

• Vincent Graff meets Sophie Dahl (The Guardian)
• Interview with Kate Lauer (The London Paper)
• Jenny Tucker reviews Voluptuous Delights (so Feminine)
• Announcement of BBC cookery series (The Telegraph)
• Announcement of 'Miss Dahl’s Guide to All Things Lovely' (The Bookseller)
• I'm a bit of a dork: Kira Cochrane talks to Sophie Dahl (The Guardian)

External links

• Sophie Dahl at the Internet Movie Database