I'm from Coventry in the UK, but I live in London now because of work. My parents were born here, but my grandparents were born in India; they're from the Punjab. When I was 13 and living at home and going to school, I used to get scouted a lot by different agencies. But there aren't really any modeling agencies in Coventry, so I didn't pay any attention to it; besides, I didn't really look like model material at that age. (Laughs)
But I kept the cards I got and when I was 14, I came in to Models1 agency with my mum and I got signed on the spot. I remember Googling them and it said, "Europe's Top Agency" and I thought if I get signed, I want to get signed to the best. I stayed in school afterwards; Models1 were really supportive of that. I'd always planned to go on a gap year once I turned 18 just to give modeling a go because even though I was signed, I lived away and I hadn't really given it my all.
The day after my exams for my A levels, I got a call from Models1 saying Burberry had requested for me. This was three months before the spring '14 show. I met Elliott Smedley, who's a stylist at Burberry, and the casting director, Leila. They asked me to walk for them and I'd never walked down a catwalk before, not even at Models1. I'd never even done a show! (Laughs).
I had these heels on, they had these crazy diamond straps and they were so, so high. My feet were wobbling and I couldn't walk, and as soon as I finished I said to Elliott, "I feel like such a klutz!" And he said, "Don't worry, we love you. Can you wait and meet Christopher [Bailey]?"
Ten minutes later, Christopher came down and he was so nice, we got on straight away. He asked me about school, and I walked for him and he said to me "You're going to be our new Burberry girl." But because he's so nice and it all just felt like a dream, I thought, OK, this is never going to happen, I'm not going to get my hopes up.
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I called Models1 in the evening to see if I had any castings for the next day and they said, "Burberry's confirmed you." I was just like, "What?!" (Laughs) And they said, "Yeah, Burberry booked you as a global exclusive for London Fashion Week." I was so shocked.
Because it was three months in advance, I couldn't even tell anyone, it was so tough! On the day of the show I uploaded a picture of myself to Facebook and everyone was like, "Is this for real?" (Laughs)
It's really funny because my parents weren't actually there for the show. They'd booked us a family holiday because I did really well on my A levels, so they were in Turkey watching it on the live stream. I couldn't be there but I didn't mind because I've literally become so close to everyone at Burberry. They're like a family.
As told to Komal Basith.
Komal Basith is the founder and editor of luxury beauty site JOSSBOX. Find her on Twitter @KomalBasith
Here's a Twitter timeline:
RT @models_1: Watch this face: Neelam Johal! #Burberry #LFWSS14 #M1atLFW @Burberry @NeelamJohal pic.twitter.com/OvFsqD0Vw2
— NEELAM (@NeelamJohal) September 18, 2013
Model @NeelamJohal becomes the first Indian to feature in a @Burberry campaign http://t.co/IhwJwHFSP1 pic.twitter.com/F8eBRSeb9q
— Vogue India (@VogueIndia) December 17, 2013
@NeelamJohal thanks love and congrats on the burberry campaign! #welcometothefamily x
— Jourdan Dunn (@missjourdandunn) December 19, 2013
The new @Burberry London S/S14 campaign starring young British talent in tailored silhouettes pic.twitter.com/iarItRxqLl
— Burberry (@Burberry) January 3, 2014
Repost from @Burberry - BTS of the campaign; #MarioTestino working his magic. ✨ pic.twitter.com/JRJrOKeyRQ
— NEELAM (@NeelamJohal) January 5, 2014
Treated myself to some Tiffany's diamond rings.
