Just who IS Cara Delevingne? How a private school girl with blue blood and Joan Collins as a godmother became the fashion world's most famous face

Cara was born into a privileged British high society family
20-year-old followed sister Poppy into modelling career and has been hailed as new Kate Moss
Like Moss, she was discovered by Sarah Doukas - as she was best friends with her daughter at private school
She has already become face of Burberry, graced cover of Vogue and was most in-demand catwalk model at London Fashion Week

PUBLISHED: 19:36, 20 February 2013 | UPDATED: 19:36, 20 February 2013

Cara Delevingne has been the toast of London Fashion Week after gracing the catwalk for designers Burberry, Matthew Williamson and Mulberry - to name but a few - and landing her first British Vogue cover this month.

With a number of lucrative modelling contracts under belt and the accolade of Model of the Year from the British Fashion Awards, the style pack have been hailing her as the new Kate Moss since she signed for the same agency, Storm, in 2009.

But the 20-year-old famed for her bushy eyebrows recently told Vogue UK that her rise to become model of the moment has come as something as a shock to her - and she 'can't believe' she's so in demand in the world of fashion.

Runway star: Cara Delevingne at London Fashion Week for Burberry, left, and Matthew Williamson, right

In demand: The model with designer Daniella Helayel at the Issa London show

'My mum was into fashion and so were my two sisters. I was never as into it as much but there would always be magazines around the house and I would stare at them and be like 'what is this?' I never understood it, fashion was very alien thing to me,' she said.

Already photogenic: Cara as a baby

With a love of drumming and fan of dressing down in onesies and beanies, she could come across as an unlikely super star to those uninitiated to the Delevingne family.

For as Alison Boshoff wrote in Daily Mail last year: 'Apart from her beauty, there is another thing which Delevingne likes to play down: her status as a high-society sweetheart.

'For while Moss is from Croydon, and Naomi Campbell from Streatham, Delevingne hails from Chelsea, via Belgravia.'

On her mother, Pandora's, side, Cara's grandfather is the former English Heritage chairman Sir Jocelyn Stevens, founder of the 1960s pirate radio station Radio Caroline.

Meanwhile her father Charles, a property-developer, had a grandfather who was a politician (Hamar, 1st Viscount Greenwood) and his aunt, Doris Delevingne, was a society beauty who was friends with Winston Churchill.

With her parent's social standing, Cara and her older sisters Chloe and Poppy became accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous from a young age. Joan Collins is Cara's godmother while their mother's friendship with Sarah Ferguson meant they also became close to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

They were all privately educated with Cara attending Frances Holland School for Girls near Sloane Square then the boarding school Bedales.

It was while she was at school her potential to become a supermodel was clocked by Sarah Doukas, the CEO of Storm Model Mangagement who once plucked Moss from obscurity. Her daughter happened to be Cara's best friend.

Privileged background: With her older sisters, Poppy, left, also a model, and Chloe, who were all privately educated at Britain's top schools

As Cara revealed to the Telegraph: 'I've been best-friends with Genevieve Garner, daughter of Sarah Doukas since I was five. Sarah saw me when she came to our school and Gen introduced us. I had never thought about modelling before, and it just happened.'

Doukas also marked Cara's older sister Poppy for success and her modelling career took off first.

While Cara did the odd modelling job in her youth, Storm didn't officially sign her until 2009, when she was aged 17.

By that time Poppy, six years her senior, had already made a name for herself and had starred in campaigns for Anya Hindmarch, Agent Provocateur, Diesel, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

Cara's break out campaign was for Burberry where she posed alongside another rising star - Les Mis actor Eddie Redmayne. She then became the face of Burberry in 2012.

Rising stars: One of her first campaigns was for Burberry with actor Eddie Redmayne

Work with Zara, Victoria's Secret and H&M followed as well as taking to the runway for designers including Stella McCartney and becoming a magazine cover star.

Now everywhere the model goes, cameras are sure to follow, as she parties with her friends such as Rihanna and Rita Ora and is usually happy to strike a kooky pose. Speculation on her love life is also rife with rumored romances with One Direction's Harry Styles and musician Jake Bugg.

Carmen Borgonovo, fashion director at online boutique my-wardrobe.com explains Cara's appeal: 'She has this unique striking look, which is almost part Brigitte Bardot, but then mixed with an elfin quirkiness. There's a rarity about her look, which has put her on the map and into countless campaigns and runways.'

Kooky: When not at working, the 20-year-old is known for her dressed down style and larking around

Kooky: When not working, the 20-year-old is known for her dressed down style and larking around

Meanwhile Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman described her as: 'One of those girls who combine energy, wit, enthusiasm and the kind of edgy beauty that marks her out from the general pool of beautiful models.'

But while she's currently the most sought after face in fashion, Cara has admitted she has other ambitions - acting. So while for now she's dominating catwalks and covers, it might not be long till she's also a regular on the silver screen.

Eyebrows have it: Cara has been described as having 'an edgy beauty that marks her out from the general pool of beautiful models'

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Friday, 22 February 2013

Just who IS Cara Delevingne?

Just who IS Cara Delevingne? How a private school girl with blue blood and Joan Collins as a godmother became the fashion world's most famous face