The Red Flame

Book excerpt: One of fashion's most iconic redheads pens a moving coming-of-age story chronicling her professional and personal metamorphosis. At age eighteen, she took the fashion world by storm in a captivating Vogue Italia cover image by Steven Meisel. She's walked runways for Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Valentino, and Gucci and starred in countless campaigns. She's released two full-length albums. And she's advocated for model rights in the workplace. For sure, Karen Elson has emerged as a tour de force in the worlds of fashion and entertainment over her two decade-long career. For the first time, the British supermodel presents a poignant look into her life and work in book form. Exquisitely written, this tome details her childhood in a gritty industrial town in Northern England and her rise to fame as one of fashion's most unique faces to her evolution as a singer-songwriter and her thoughts on body image and the state of fashion up until the present day. Accompanied by legendary images by such photographers as Craig McDean, Annie Leibovitz, and Mert and Marcus, Elson's poetic--and at times haunting--prose brims with an intimacy that most fans have never encountered before. With contributions by Edward Enninful, Tim Walker, and Grace Coddington, this beautifully crafted book is a powerful glimpse into the many sides and fiery spirit of one of the greatest muses of our time.