University: I’m back in Trinity College Dublin after two years away. It’s really exciting to be in lectures once again. I’ll miss traveling as much, but if I’m to finish my degree then I have to go back this year. It’s been a hard choice, and I’ll miss everyone in IMG, but education has to come first.

Special thanks to Seyna Van Der Linden, Craig Bilham, Daniel Gianini, Katherine Gould, Sarah Kate Boyd and of course Constantin Bjerke.

Oh, and a huge thank you to Sadie Mantovani from Ralph Lauren who just sent me a lovely email. It’s always nice to get nice emails.

So for the last few weeks I’ve been working on a pretty exciting project for the Swatch-MTV Playground blog, doing little interviews, blog posts, and lots more. I’m the 4th Guest Editor after the photographer Rankin and designers Fred Butler and Alex Noble, so pretty big shoes to fill!

The first two have just gone up, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Faye

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Playground 11 – Guest Editor – Faye Dinsmore – 5 Minute – GB from Swatch MTV Playground on Vimeo.

You can also read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.

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Model Brand

Couture catwalks and awards ceremonies are all in a day’s work for Faye Dinsmore. The farm girl from Co Donegal, Ireland, explains how she stays grounded

In person, Faye Dinsmore looks like the girl in the movie who starts off dorky, then — ta-da! — gets contacts and a blow-dry and turns out to be hot. Striding into the Hôtel Costes in Paris, wearing leggings, biker boots and geek-chic specs, she turns the snootiest of heads. On camera, she is a model-booker’s dream. It’s not that she’s a blank canvas; rather that the starry eyes, square jaw and willowy body easily morph from couture clotheshorse to lads’-mag babe. Perhaps this explains her mild identity crisis.

Now 23, Dinsmore started modelling relatively late. She was spotted in 2008 outside Trinity College Dublin, where she studied French and classics. Surely, as a 5ft 10in Mischa Barton lookalike, she had considered modelling? “No. I grew up in the middle of nowhere and had acne as a teenager. So, no, this was never my dream. I feel very lucky.” In late 2010, after graduation, Dinsmore moved to Paris where she signed with IMG, alongside Freja Beha, Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum. Lucrative contracts followed, but also couture catwalks and glossy shoots around the world.

Dinsmore is now the most popular Irish person on Facebook. Nobody seems more shocked than Dinsmore. Eyes like headlamps, she rattles away in her bemused lilt: “You know the part on chocolate ads when the girl falls back on this silky-brown, chocolatey thing? They drop you on that from high wires. When I filmed Galaxy, I had to do it so often I got whiplash. Or, imagine being in St Lucia — the hottest place ever — and running up the beach in a giant Vera Wang. That’s why I started my blog: it’s a diary of the craziness.”

Ah, the blog, Dinsmore’s other runaway success. Created to help keep in touch, fayedinsmore.com has gathered a global following. She is now the most popular Irish person on Facebook, with 200,000 fans (Ronan Keating has 35,000). “It just went viral,” she says. “It’s weird, but I guess people love seeing what models get up to behind the scenes.”

The blog reveals a sharp mind and a candid voice that jar with the goofy backstage shots. Dinsmore posts controversial articles on the Irish economy and Chinese parenting, and adeptly opens debates. Her knack for commanding traffic would make web editors weep. “Fashion or nudity?” the blog bellows, flagging up semipornographic model shots and eliciting thousands of comments. “Is fashion elitist?” “Are models too thin?” She’s for ever asking, never answering. Is this the secret to social networking? “I don’t like to waffle,” she replies.

Dinsmore has lately become a patron for Irish style, launching Ireland’s Most Influential in Fashion awards. “I noticed I didn’t meet many people from home in the fashion industry, so I decided to do a little awards ceremony,” she explains. “People could nominate someone, and then vote for anyone — just once. I wanted to recognise photographers, hairdressers — all those people. It went huge, we had hundreds of thousands of hits. The event is on March 31; it’s going to be really good.” Where does she find time to organise an awards ceremony? “I’m sure it can’t be that hard.”

It’s a far cry from Dinsmore’s biblical-sounding roots. She grew up on a remote coastal farm in Co Donegal, the second-youngest of 14 children. No wonder she’s good at getting heard. “My parents are proud. It’s funny — imagine this 80-year-old farmer dad reading fashion magazines. But I love that I grew up in the country, knowing nothing about this world. Like, at Christmas, I went to a fancy party in London, and the next day I was home in wellies on the farm.”

She confides that models use the term ‘real people’ to describe us uglies

Grounding, for sure, but has it contributed to the impostor complex that seems to hover around her? There’s an odd disconnect between Faye from the farm and Faye the model. “I’ll see photos of myself that other people say are beautiful, but I realise a picture of me is not me. That’s an hour of make-up, an hour of hair, God knows how much Photoshop. So when I walk down the street, I’m not the girl in that picture.” Surely she notices how people react in person? The waiter is flirting outrageously, asking if she’s “une modèle”. She bats the question away: “People assume anyone of a certain build is a model. There’s a difference between me in real life and me in pictures.”

For one so magnetic, she seems more comfortable observing others. “I’m curious about what clients want. At castings, I’ll speak only English so they assume I can’t understand French — just to hear what they say about me. Sometimes they’re nice, sometimes they’re, like, ‘Don’t like her!’” Which she seems cheery enough about.

To read the remainder of this interview please visit the Sunday Times subscription website

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You can also read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.

I just thought I’d share a small interview I did with Naomi Bikis of Tank Magazine, that appeared on their blog: beacauselondon.com. Special thanks to the wonderful Olivia Richardson.

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Uhuh we see that simple ’60s vibe that Faye’s got going on and we like it. Her trench, black mini dress and oversized sunglasses have caught a little of Francoise Hardy, which can never be a bad reference point to have.

Faye is a model and blogger from Ireland who considers Paris home for now, which might explain the subtle channeling of french singers. But rather than knocking off stars of old she adds her own interesting cat broach, soft tan leather rucksack and Kurt Geiger boots that bring us nicely back to 2011.

 

Faye Dinsmore

What do you see your self doing in 10 years?

I hope to have achieved self-sufficiency, owning my own farm, growing my own vegetables, having lots of animals. It would be half farm/half model retreat where tired, overworked models could take a break from the hectic fashion world and come stay with me and chill out on the farm, in exchange for manual labour of course.

 

Where is your favourite place to be?

I went to a party in the New Forest a little while ago called Wyndstock. It’s most definitely my favourite place of the year.

 

Do you have a beauty secret?

Yes, my green smoothie. It’s one apple, one pear, ,one banana, spinach, cucumber, celery and lettuce, blend this baby and have it first thing in the morning. It does wonders for your hair, skin, energy levels. Life saver if you’re hung-over.

 

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Chocolate and crisps. I have a mild addiction to crisps, sometimes I find myself thinking about which flavour to buy next. And there are few things in life better than chocolate after dinner with a hot cup of tea. Nom nom.

 

Who/what is the greatest love of your life?

My baby Coco, I bought her from a homeless man in Paris, she is the most beautiful, clever, friendly, cuddly, best puppy in the world.

 

What’s your fancy dress costume of choice?

I’ve never actually had a proper costume, like most girls I use fancy dress parties as an occasion to wear the silliest and sluttiest things in my wardrobe.

 

If you could have one super power what would it be and why?

Teleportation. I spend way too much time travelling and I hate airports.

 

http://blog.fayedinsmore.com/

 

Faye is wearing:

BB Dakota trench

French Connection dress

ELS necklace Topshop bag

Kurt Geiger shoes

Rings from Brick Lane

 

Credits:

Footage: Olivia Richardson

Text: Naomi Bikis

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You can read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.

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You can read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.

I shot an editorial for Italian Elle and then French Elle earlier this year, but lost all the behind the scenes photos I took on my iPhone – that was until today when I found this one, and I thought I’d share it.

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You can read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.

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You can read more about Faye in the about section of her blog by clicking here.