FEATURES
PERSONALIA FASHION FOCUS
BROGAN’S LIFE ON THE
CATWALK
OP Brogan Loftus (06-13) has had to grow up
quickly in the demanding world of fashion modelling,
but working for some of the world’s top designers
has opened up some amazing opportunities. Now
a scout for boutique model agency Linden Staub,
Brogan reflects on her career to date.
Her journey began when she was 12 years old.
She was out shopping with her family and was
approached by a model scout. She says “At the time,
I had just spilled hot chocolate all over my white
jeans so I couldn’t believe that she thought I had
potential. I was ecstatic, but thought nothing else of
it as I was so young.”
However, the seed had been sown and at 16, Brogan
went to London to meet some agencies, eventually
signing with M and P Models. This led to her meeting
her model agency bookers, Tara and Esther, who
quickly became like a second family to Brogan as
she was slowly introduced to the world of modelling.
“To be honest, I didn’t really model at all up to this
point, but at 18 I was really unsure about what I
wanted to do after school, so I took the risk of
moving to London to give modelling full-time a shot.”
The risk paid off for Brogan; she arrived in London
in August and by September she was already in Paris
walking exclusively for Celine.
“In the modelling world this is a huge deal; I didn’t think
of it like that at the time – I was just focused on the
fact that I got to meet Kanye West backstage! I was still
pretty oblivious to the whole industry and unaware of
how crazy my life would become from here.”
POCKLINGTONIANS PUT ON
FASHION SHOW TO RAISE
FUNDS FOR THE RNLI
A team of Pocklington School former pupils and
parents joined forces on 22 March 2017 to stage a
fashion show to raise money for the Royal National
Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
OP creative brother and sister team, James Steward
(87-92) and Hannah Moody (née Steward 90-
99), set up in business together in 2016 to create
In the years since this meteoric start to her
professional modelling career, Brogan has travelled
all over the world, walking in catwalks for big name
designers such as Chanel, Armani, Alexander Wang
and shooting for exclusive magazines such as
Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue.
“I think my career highlight was being flown first class
to Dubai to walk the Chanel show. It was on their
private island that had taken two years to build just
for this show. That was pretty amazing!”
However, there is no doubt that it is a tough industry
to be in and there are plenty of downsides to life
as a professional model. For Brogan, having this
much success so quickly was slightly overwhelming
and travelling to different cities on a weekly basis
was unrelenting and exhausting. Brogan comments
“I would get very home sick, especially when you
find out that you’re going away the night before you
have to leave!”
Although Brogan is still modelling (she did a Vivienne
Westwood show two weeks ago), she is now also
working and scouting for boutique agency Linden
Staub. The agency was created and is owned by her
bookers, Tara and Esther. They have known Brogan
and her family for the last six years and have offered
a guiding hand throughout her career so far.
“It’s amazing for us all to grow together and to have
the confidence that when a new girl gets signed
to the agency they will truly be looked after and
supported. It is also great for parents to have me
to talk to about certain aspects of the industry that
may appear daunting at first. I can speak from first-
hand experience as I have already been through it
all myself.”
their own fashion label and showcased the latest
‘James Steward’ collection at the event.
Clare Kaye, owner of the former Jenni Jones
Boutique in Pocklington and a current parent at the
school, also showed some of the collections in her
boutique, expertly modelled by a group of friends
including current pupils and parents, former parents
and OP Yasmin Remblance (05-15). Held in the
Music School (some OPs will remember it as the
Assembly Hall), the whole event was organised by
Helen Stephenson, a current parent and wife of OP
Phil Stephenson (72-80), who
welcomed over 150 guests on the
evening.
Based in Wetherby, Leeds, James
and Hannah design and make
ready-to-wear and bespoke
dresses in-house for all occasions,
whether it be a wedding, a prom,
a night out, a day at t he races or
just a special treat.
L-R: Helen Stephenson, James Steward and Hannah Moody.
Brogan also credits Pocklington School for helping
her to nurture the resilience she needed to cope
with the demands of professional modelling and
for honing her natural ability to communicate
with people from all walks of life. She says “I
had to become independent almost overnight and
I feel at school we were treated as equals to the
adults, which was an invaluable trait I had instilled
within me and gave me a lot of confidence and
maturity.”
Both are trained fashion designers
with over 35 years’ experience
between them. James trained
at the Kent Institute of Art and
Design, after which he worked with couture houses
in Italy, Ben de Lisi in London and has twice won
Yorkshire Bridal Designer of the year. Hannah
graduated from the prestigious Cordwainers College
and went straight into the footwear industry to
work as a footwear and handbag designer, travelling
the world working with factories in China, India, Italy,
Vietnam and Taiwan.
Helen Stephenson, event organiser, commented: “It’s
been great to work with James, Hannah, Clare and
all our wonderful models, who have very generously
given their time and expertise to make this event a
success. Being in the Music School gave it a great
atmosphere and we raised over £1,930 for the RNLI
on the night, which we are delighted with.”
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