Sophie Dahl

Who is Sophie Dahl?

Sophie Dahl is an English author and former fashion model. She was notable in the 1990s and early 2000s for her heavy physical appearance which she used to her advantage on the international fashion stage. She also fronted a series of ad campaigns on behalf of designer brands and fashion magazines. As a writer, she completed her first successful novella in 2003 entitled The Man with the Dancing Eyes and followed this with Playing With the Grown-ups in 2008. In 2010 Dahl wrote The Delicious Miss Dahl, a cookery book which featured recipes that were recreated for a six-part BBC 2 series of the same name.

Born in London, Dahl made her debut on the English catwalk in London's Fashion Week in the Autumn of 1997. That year, she was discovered by Isabella Blow, who was then a stylist for Vogue magazine. Blow introduced her to the management at the Storm Model Agency in London who signed her to a number of modelling campaigns for Versace, Alexander McQueen, Patrick Cox and Pringle, among others.

Dahl is the daughter of actor Julian Holloway and writer Tessa Dahl. Her maternal grandparents were the children's author Roald Dahl and the American actress Patricia Neal. Her paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and the former chorus dancer Violet Lane. Sophie Dahl was the inspiration for Sophie, the main character in her maternal grandfather's book The BFG. She is married to the singer Jamie Cullum.