Burberry’s New Girl: Watch This Face

As Burberry´s first ever Indian campaign star, Neelam Johal hopes to pave the way for more ethnic diversity in fashion. The 18-year-old - who hails from Coventry - will hit the catwalk for the brand during its London Fashion Week show today.

"It makes me feel great knowing that I've opened doors for other girls like me," Johal told us. "It felt - and still feels - amazing."

Johal was first scouted when she was 13, then signed with Models1 when she was 14, although she didn't start modelling in earnest until she finished school. She was always interested in fashion, although originally not in the area she has ended up.

"From about the age of 14 to 16, I had my heart set on becoming a fashion journalist," she said. "I ordered so many books to try and educate myself on the industry; I still have the books now. Fashion is a major aspect of my life, not just because of my job, but because I have a genuine interest in it."

Neelam Johal

She made her catwalk debut for Burberry last season, and  a campaign shot by Mario Testino, soon followed. In it, Johal appears alongside Jamie Campbell Bower, Malaika Firth and Jean Campbell.

"I'll never forget the moment when my agency told me I got the campaign," she recalled. "They called me in after a casting and told me I had a go-see at the agency, but really I didn't and my booker was just waiting for confirmation that I'd got the campaign so that she could tell me to my face! When she broke the news to me, I started crying and my whole agency was crying with me and clapping. It just felt too good to be true, it still does."

Although she loves working with Burberry (especially on-set mealtimes, in which Christopher Bailey, Testino and the campaign crew eat together), Chanel, Givenchy, Hermès, Balenciaga and Kenzo are next on her model wish list. An acting career is also a strong possibility.

"I've been asked to go into Bollywood a lot, which I'm open to," she said, before adding, "but maybe in a few years' time because I feel like I'm only just getting started with modelling and I have so much more to achieve."

When she isn't mixing with fashion's top names, Johal can be found cooking or reading at her family home in Coventry, or at a rap concert. Perhaps tellingly, Naomi Campbell is her all-time model hero.

"In my opinion, she has paved the way for models and shown us that you can make a career out of this and branch into different avenues," she said. "I also admire her because she has broken down many barriers within modelling, and had an incredible career."