Erin O’Connor on returning to the couture catwalk

Erin O’Connor hasn’t stepped foot on the catwalk for almost a year now, but Wednesday night saw the British super return to the runway after she strutted her stuff for Jean Paul Gaultier in his autumn/winter 2011-12 couture collection.

And yes, she was absolutely petrified!

“Yes it’s true, I’ve taken quite a long time out from modelling and it’s really great to be back again,” said Erin. “Actually I was petrified before the show but Jean Paul was sweet and fed me macaroons!

But how did Gaultier ask Erin to walk for his show? Well, by text, of course.

“He contacted me and asked me to do the show via text – as you do – and I couldn’t refuse. I also took to the catwalk for Natalia Vodianova’s charity catwalk show last night and it was great,” explains Erin.

“Beforehand, I shot with Patrick Demarchelier, who I haven’t seen for ages, with my fave models Stella, Natalia, Mariacarla – oh and Mr Valentino…whose castle we borrowed for the evening!”

We all love a bit of couture, but for Erin, the bespoke fitting of the clothes is what she loves most.

“Couture for me is exciting because the clothes are bespoke fitted to the body they are intended for – no getting poured into a readymade garnment and no pressure on body size and the sometimes limited appreciation of diverse body types,” explains Erin to Vogue UK.

If only we, too, could afford such luxuries.