This year is shaping up to be quite the chapter for Saffron Vadher. The model, who spent the last decade walking the most exalted catwalks and fronting fashion’s glossiest covers, is about to flip the lens.
This time, it’s film director Alex Marx behind the camera and Vadher is stepping into her first acting role in The Queen Of Fashion, a biopic about the indomitable style doyenne Isabella Blow, alongside Richard E. Grant, Dane DeHaan, Andrea Riseborough and Joe Cole.
‘This is my first film and I’m so excited, it feels surreal,’ she tells Grazia. ‘I met Alex a few years ago and we spoke about this project, my modelling experience and wanting to step into acting. Now, here we are, living the dreams we both spoke about.’ Vadher, a breakout model in 2016 and by 2018 gracing Vogue, acknowledges the crossover between the two disciplines.
‘I’m very comfortable in front of the camera and that is something modelling has given me. You learn how to take direction quickly and stay calm under pressure,’ she explains. ‘There is tons of overlap. You’re stepping into something that isn’t fully you, whether that is for a runway or a shoot.
You embody a different mood, a different character, someone else’s vision. But with acting, you have to go deeper. What I’ve loved about this project is that it is set in the fashion world, a place where I’ve spent 10 years.’ And Vadher isn’t putting her feet up between takes.
Beside her back-to-back bookings, she’s still carving out time for the charity Leukaemia UK, herself a survivor of childhood leukaemia. ‘It’s important to give back and to a cause that is close to my heart.
I feel incredibly privileged to be in a position where I can help raise awareness, support the work Leukaemia UK is doing and speak to families about what they are going through. No matter how busy life gets, I want to stay connected to something bigger than myself.’
Model @saffron at @vivamodel wearing @dior; Photographer @_melanie__rodriguez_; Style Director @whatmollysees; HMUA @ana.sanchezzpe @diorbeauty; Photography Assistant @paul.a.hyde; Fashion Assistant @amber.is; Runner Rafa Grandvalira; Shoot Producer @midnightdominator; Editor in Chief: @hattie_brett; Creative Director: @cazroberts; Associate Editor: @rebeccalowthorpe; Style Director: @whatmollysees; Special thanks to @theluxurytravelbook
Henrik Lischke is the senior fashion news and features editor at Grazia. Prior to that, he worked at British Vogue, and was junior fashion editor at The Sunday Times Style.