In August 2016, Iris Law had done only a handful of modelling jobs, including a starring role alongside Taylor Hill for Miu Miu’s Resort lookbook, an appearance in the September issue of Teen Vogue and a shoot with Illustrated People.
By the end of last year, Sadie Frost and Jude Law’s daughter had become one of the most promising young faces in fashion as rumours spread that she had been offered a six-figure modelling contract with Chanel.
Now, the 16-year-old has scored another major coup, landing her first ever campaign, as the face of Burberry’s latest lipstick collection. The brand has become synonymous with championing young British modelling talent (Cara Delevingne and Edie Campbell precede her). It probably didn’t hurt that Burberry’s creative director Christopher Bailey is an old friend of her parents.
‘It happened very quickly,’ remembers Iris. ‘Burberry approached me, I found out in October that I got it and we shot the campaign in the same month.’
Speed was essential: Iris continues to juggle her fledgling career with schoolwork and she’s taking her GCSEs this year. ‘I’m balancing this with my classes, working on it at the weekends and during my holidays,’ she says. ‘The campaign will come out on a school day but none of my classmates even know I’ve done it yet. It’ll probably hit me a lot more once everyone knows.’
We meet in Central London on the last day of Iris’s Christmas break. Dressed casually in a black jumper, her dark hair cropped like her mother’s, she’s polite but nervous, often turning to her agent for assurance before answering a question.
Yet as she speaks, I begin to realise why Iris has become the latest celebrity progeny to win over the fashion industry. Her voice and bright blue eyes – glinting with a knowing charm – are Jude. Her bone structure, meanwhile, is all Sadie’s.
What has been her parents’ best piece of advice? ‘They’ve told me to be friendly to everyone, to remember my manners, to be myself, to not be too nervous. It’s really fun to talk to them about all of this because they are the most solid people to discuss it with. They’re always just as excited as I am.’
Sadie has already taught her how to experiment with make-up to recreate ‘the eye looks she did when she was younger, experimental and punky and crazy’. Their style is different, but Iris borrows her heels.
She says her godmother Kate Moss, who made her a bridesmaid at her wedding to Jamie Hince in 2011, hasn’t been involved in her modelling career so far - despite the fact that the super has just launched her own agency.
‘My friends are the only people offering me advice,’ she says. They are likely to include Kate’s daughter Lila Grace and Lottie Moss - also bridesmaids at the wedding. Both have modelled, as has her older brother Rafferty.
‘It’s nice to be able to find friends who you can talk to without it feeling like you’re boasting,’ she goes on. ‘It’s important to be able to go to the right people about it.’
So what’s next? More modelling, but her focus is on her A-levels. Her real passions are photography and art. One day, she wants to work with Tim Walker (‘my biggest inspiration’) or Mario Testino. ‘It hasn’t seemed too daunting yet,’ says Iris of her burgeoning career.
‘Everyone has been very friendly and I’ve felt very welcome. It comes naturally and no one has put too much pressure on me. I’m taking it all as it comes, that’s my motto at the moment.’
‘You’ve got a lot to come,’ chimes in her agent, signalling that time is up. Something tells me she’s right.
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