Lily Cole
Encyclopedia
Lily Luahana Cole is an English model and actress. Cole's modelling career was launched by a chance encounter with Benjamin Hart
in Soho
, London when she was 14.
Cole has featured in several well-known publications, including Vogue (US, UK, Italian, Japanese), other fashion clients have included Numero, V, Pop, Dazed, Citizen K, Christian Lacroix, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Hermes, Galliano, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs. Advertising campaigns include Longchamp, Anna Sui, Hermes, Moschino, Prada, Chanel, Cacharel, Moschino fragrance, and Ghost fragrance. She has a lucrative cosmetics contract with beauty brand Rimmel London and can be seen in TVC and print advertising as part of her work with them, attracting controversy in 2008 by appearing naked in a pictorial for Playboy
magazine's French edition. Cole has also appeared in advertisements for companies such as high street retailer Marks and Spencer and cosmetics chain Rimmel
.
After several minor acting roles, starting with St Trinian's in 2007, Cole's first leading role was as Valentina in the 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
, in which she starred alongside Heath Ledger
, Johnny Depp
, Colin Farrell
, and Jude Law
.
In June, 2011, Cole was awarded a Double First in History of Art
at the University of Cambridge
.
, southwest England, and raised in London, along with one of her two sisters. She was raised by her mother, Patience Owen, an artist and writer; her father, Chris Cole, a boat builder and fisherman, left the household and was not part of his daughter's life while she grew up. Cole attended the St Marylebone church school
for girls, before completing her sixth form
studies at Latymer Upper School
, an independent school
in Hammersmith
, London. A chance encounter began her modelling career at the age of 14.
In April 2007, Cole first featured in the Sunday Times Rich List
, which estimated her net worth at £
6 million, ranking her as the 77th-richest young person in the United Kingdom. As of 2009, she is thought to have earned in excess of £11 million.
Despite her successful modelling career, Cole retains a commitment to her education, achieving A grades in her A-level
examinations in English, Politics, Drama, History, and Philosophy and Ethics at Latymer Upper School
. Before Latymer School, Cole attended the primary school Hallfield School (Bayswater, London) and St Marylebone Secondary School
.
Cole gained a place to read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge
, but twice deferred entry before switching to study History of Art
, which she commenced in the Michaelmas term
, 2008, gaining a First
in her examinations at the end of her first year, and again in her second year examinations, one of seven members of her year to achieve the grade. Asked about the change of course, Cole explained, "I like doing things I haven't learnt about yet. I've always been interested in art, and I love doing art." Speaking to Judy Rumbold of The Irish Independent, she said, "the decision came from the vague notion that it might be a wise thing to do, that when I was 50, 60, 70, I'd look back and be glad I did it". She gave an interview for The Daily Telegraph
in December 2009 in which she admitted she struggled to settle in to her first year at Cambridge, conceding she was "a bit shell-shocked, but I think everyone finds that".
Cole was in a relationship with American actor Enrique Murciano
, star of television series Without a Trace
. As of February 2011, the pair are reported to have broken up after two and half years of dating.
In an interview given in January 2010, Cole admitted, "I definitely never thought of myself as model material. Me on a catwalk with all these superwomen?" adding that "if a designer says I inspire them, I'm still not sure how that happened". Cole went on to reveal that her modelling career gave her "a lot of self confidence, which I didn’t have in the past". In February 2010, Cole was voted the fourth "sexiest redhead of all time", after Florence Welch
, Prince Harry of Wales
, and Nicola Roberts
in a poll conducted by the Daily Mirror.
when she was approached by Benjamin Hart
, who asked her to consider modelling. She initially declined, later saying, "I was cynical enough to think it wouldn't come to much", though she later changed her mind and signed to Storm Models
.
Her break came in 2003 when she caught the eye of photographer Steven Meisel
. It was on that photoshoot, her first "only girl" story for Italian Vogue
, that Cole was "catapulted into the spotlight" as one of the leading new faces of the year. Since then, Cole has worked with many other prominent photographers, including Craig McDean
, Nick Knight
, Juergen Teller
, Arthur Elgort
, and Irving Penn
.
At the 2004 British Fashion Awards
, Cole was named "Model of the Year". She has since made appearances on the covers of many fashion magazines including, amongst others, the American, Italian, British, Japanese and Korean editions of Vogue
, Citizen K, V
and Vogue
as well as featuring on Vogue' s "best dressed" list in December 2005.
She has also had cover appearances on Numéro
and Interview
.
She has modelled on the international runway circuit and at many fashion shows on behalf of Chanel
, Shiatzy Chen
, DKNY
, Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Alexander McQueen
, Jasper Conran
, John Galliano
, and Louis Vuitton
. She was nominated, for the second time, for the "Model of the Year" award at the 2007 British Fashion Awards and, in December 2009, was listed by Vogue Paris as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Cole's modelling career continued in 2010. She made a cover appearance on the January 2010 issue of the Canadian Elle, as well as giving an interview to the magazine and opening Hermès
's winter 2010/2011 collection at Paris Fashion Week
in March, wearing a black leather catsuit and bowler hat.
Towards the end of 2010, she featured in a documentary chronicling the career of Rolf Harris
in which he painted her dressing up as the Queen of the fairies from A Midsummer's Night Dream.
in a shoot showing full frontal nudity for Paradis, an upmarket French men's magazine.
She went on to appear nude in, and on the front cover of, the French edition of Playboy
magazine in October 2008. However, there is no frontal nudity or topless pictures in this pictorial. The shoot was inspired by the cover of French musician Serge Gainsbourg's 1971 album "Histoire de Melody Nelson
" and attracted controversy, with calls for Cole to be dropped from her contract with British high-street chain Marks and Spencer. However, M&S stated that it "stood by Lily", arguing she "is a popular, high profile, model who is very much in demand, and this is one of the key reasons why we have chosen to work with her". A spokesperson for M&S insisted, "It's entirely her own choice as to what other work she accepts and we would not wish to interfere with her career." Cole herself defended the photographs as art, saying "Nudity has always existed in art ... it doesn't necessarily 'debase' anymore than it celebrates ... the human body". Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal compared the work to Manet's Olympia despite the criticism. Cole also featured topless in the 2010 edition of the Pirelli Calendar
alongside Daisy Lowe
and Dutch model Marloes Horst. In 2010, Cole appears in an implied nude image on the cover of photographer Rankin's thematic book of nudes "Painting Pretty Pictures."
, Christian Lacroix
, Hermès
, Longchamp, Cacharel
, Topshop
, and Anna Sui
Cosmetics, as well as being the face for Moschino
's perfume "I Love Love".
In September 2007, Cole was announced as the follow-up model for Accessorize, taking the place of Claudia Schiffer
, also designing a line of handbags for the collection.
Cole has been modelling for cosmetics company Rimmel London
since October 2009, as well as featuring in advertisements for jewellers Tiffany & Co. Cole, along with Twiggy
and other models became a "face" of Marks and Spencer clothes advertising campaign, making the youngest model to ever do a campaign for the line, though her contract was not renewed by M&S in late 2009 as the company struggled as a result of the financial crisis. Although having expressed a desire to focus more on her acting career, Cole launched a campaign in June 2010 at London Gatwick Airport
for modelling agency, Storm Model Management. The campaign aims to find new modelling talent from people passing through the airport, with the agency hoping to re-create the discovery of Kate Moss
, who was spotted at JFK Airport, New York City
in 1988 by the agency's founder.
announced in February 2006 that he intended to cast Cole in his upcoming film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll
as Alice. Shorts from the movie have been featured on his website and a feature length
film is also planned, though it is unknown if or when it will be released.
Cole made her acting debut as Polly the geek in the 2007 comedy St. Trinian's, a rework of the black and white films of the 1950s and '60s, alongside Rupert Everett
, Colin Firth
, Russell Brand
, Jodie Whittaker
and Stephen Fry
.
However, Cole's first leading role came in Terry Gilliam
's 2009 fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
. Cole played Valentina, the teenage daughter of Christopher Plummer
's title character, Dr Parnassus, whom Parnassus has promised to The Devil (Tom Waits
) upon her 16th birthday. Acting alongside Heath Ledger
(who died before filming had finished), Cole, in an interview for The Daily Telegraph
admitted that, at times, she felt out of her depth in the role- saying “I’d only done a couple of films and here I was surrounded by amazing actors like Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger, and it was intimidating at times,” also describing the role as "the biggest role I’ve ever done". Terry Gilliam, director of Parnassus, when asked, said of Cole: “She has an amazing look and grasps what is required so very quickly. If she wants a career as an actress, she has a brilliant future”. According to Mark Olsen of The Los Angeles Times, writing as Parnassus was released in the United States, "Cole brings a surprising well of emotional tenderness to her part as Valentina", while Ryan Michael Painter wrote of the film on 'inthisweek.com' that "all of the performances are delightful, particularly Cole's as Valentina, proving that the haute couture model has more to offer this world than a pretty face".
Cole also appeared at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival
in December 2009 to promote Parnassus.
She also featured as herself in one episode of the online series T Takes, a series of short, improvised films published by The New York Times
.
Cole also appeared as "Lettuce Leaf", a celebrity supermodel in the 2009 film, Rage
directed by Sally Potter
. Cole originally auditioned for the part of Minx, which later went to Jude Law
, with whom Cole had worked on Parnassus.
Cole plays the minor part of "Aline" in the upcoming film There Be Dragons
, scheduled for release in 2010.
In January 2010, Cole gave an interview to the Canadian edition of Elle in which she expressed her desire to focus more on acting than on her modelling career, saying she "wouldn't want to treat acting as a convenient thing to do now and again", going on to mention her roles in the upcoming films There Be Dragons and Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll and saying of her modelling "I've been doing modelling for years and I feel like I've taken out of it what I need to and I'm ready for new things" and that "film asks for a much bigger emotional and intellectual commitment."
Later in 2010, Cole will have a part in Mary Harron
's The Moth Diaries.
for the Girls Aloud
/Sugababes
cover of "Walk This Way" in aid of the British telethon charity Comic Relief
, in which she struts up and down a catwalk in "hilarious ways", interspersed by the bands and several well-known British television personalities. Cole had another minor role in Primal Scream
's 2008 video "Can’t Go Back", in which she and other models featured in a horror-style video based on the films of Dario Argento
. The models, including Cole, are graphically "murdered" and "meet their ends in rather striking ways" with the aim of looking "hot even when dead".
It was reported in October 2009 that Cole would be making her stage debut at the Old Vic Theatre
in London's West End
at the theatre's annual "24 Hour Plays" held in November, but "scheduling commitments" forced her to pull out. Cole ultimately made her stage debut at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge, as Nina in a student production of The Seagull.
Cole appeared in "The Curse of the Black Spot
", the third episode of the sixth series
of science fiction series Doctor Who
, in May 2011. She played a Sea Siren
.
. She also supports the charity WaterAid
, speaking for the organisation's "End Water Poverty" campaign, and the Environmental Justice Foundation
Cole has modelled a T-shirt with the slogan "Save the Future" to fight child labour in the fashion industry for the Environmental Justice Foundation. Most recently Cole put a plaster cast bust of her torso on the auction site eBay
to raise money for British telethon charity Comic Relief
.
In December 2009, Cole attended a party, hosted by Sir Elton John for which guests were asked to design their ideal bar with the designs then sold at auction in aid of the Elton John AIDS Foundation
.
Lily devotes much of her spare time to ethical causes – over the years she has lent real support to various charities including WWF, Christian Aid and The Ethical Justice Foundation.
In October 2010 Lily helped launch the World Land Trust’s Emerald for Elephant Exhibition, which was designed to create awareness and raise important funds for the protection of the critically endangered Asian elephant.
, an environmental organization specialising in work to halt gold and diamond mining, which is alleged to displace indigenous peoples worldwide and alleged to create excessive amounts of mining waste and toxins.
As the face of De Beers, Lily went to the Kalahari to see for herself the work their charity was doing to support the plight of the Bushmen. While there she discovered their hand-crafted Ostrich eggshell jewellery and introduced the range to various prestigious retailers including Dover St Market where it still being sold.
Cole has been seen wearing the £5 eco-friendly Anya Hindmarch
handbag bearing the slogan "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" and wrote the foreword for Tamsin Blanchard's 2007 book Green Is The New Black, a guide to being fashionable while remaining eco-friendly. She also had involvement in creating an environmentally friendly knitwear company, The North Circular, whose products are made from the wool
of rescued sheep, from which 5% of all profits, and all of Cole's, are donated to the Environmental Justice Foundation. She launched a womenswear range for the company in February 2010.
As part of her modelling work for Marks and Spencer, Cole's face (along with that of Twiggy
) appears on a range of alternative shopping bags launched by the retailer in efforts to reduce the number of plastic carrier bags it gives out.
Benjamin Hart
Benjamin Hart is an English actor best known for his roles as Foz in British soap Hollyoaks, and as Adam Rhodes in Australian soap opera Neighbours.-Early career:...
in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
, London when she was 14.
Cole has featured in several well-known publications, including Vogue (US, UK, Italian, Japanese), other fashion clients have included Numero, V, Pop, Dazed, Citizen K, Christian Lacroix, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Hermes, Galliano, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs. Advertising campaigns include Longchamp, Anna Sui, Hermes, Moschino, Prada, Chanel, Cacharel, Moschino fragrance, and Ghost fragrance. She has a lucrative cosmetics contract with beauty brand Rimmel London and can be seen in TVC and print advertising as part of her work with them, attracting controversy in 2008 by appearing naked in a pictorial for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's French edition. Cole has also appeared in advertisements for companies such as high street retailer Marks and Spencer and cosmetics chain Rimmel
Rimmel
Rimmel is a cosmetics brand, now owned by Coty, Inc.. The House of Rimmel was originally founded by Eugene Rimmel in 1834 in Regent Street, London, UK....
.
After several minor acting roles, starting with St Trinian's in 2007, Cole's first leading role was as Valentina in the 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a traveling theater troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations...
, in which she starred alongside Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
, and Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
.
In June, 2011, Cole was awarded a Double First in History of Art
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Early and personal life
Cole was born in TorquayTorquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
, southwest England, and raised in London, along with one of her two sisters. She was raised by her mother, Patience Owen, an artist and writer; her father, Chris Cole, a boat builder and fisherman, left the household and was not part of his daughter's life while she grew up. Cole attended the St Marylebone church school
St Marylebone School
St Marylebone C of E School is a specialist secondary school for girls in Marylebone, London. It specialises in Performing Arts and Maths & Computing. In the sixth form, boys can also attend....
for girls, before completing her sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
studies at Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School, founded by Edward Latymer in 1624, is a selective independent school in Hammersmith, West London, England, lying between King Street and the Thames. It is a day school for 1,130 pupils – boys and girls aged 11–18; there is also the Latymer Preparatory School for boys and girls...
, an independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London. A chance encounter began her modelling career at the age of 14.
In April 2007, Cole first featured in the Sunday Times Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...
, which estimated her net worth at £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
6 million, ranking her as the 77th-richest young person in the United Kingdom. As of 2009, she is thought to have earned in excess of £11 million.
Despite her successful modelling career, Cole retains a commitment to her education, achieving A grades in her A-level
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...
examinations in English, Politics, Drama, History, and Philosophy and Ethics at Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School, founded by Edward Latymer in 1624, is a selective independent school in Hammersmith, West London, England, lying between King Street and the Thames. It is a day school for 1,130 pupils – boys and girls aged 11–18; there is also the Latymer Preparatory School for boys and girls...
. Before Latymer School, Cole attended the primary school Hallfield School (Bayswater, London) and St Marylebone Secondary School
St Marylebone School
St Marylebone C of E School is a specialist secondary school for girls in Marylebone, London. It specialises in Performing Arts and Maths & Computing. In the sixth form, boys can also attend....
.
Cole gained a place to read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, but twice deferred entry before switching to study History of Art
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
, which she commenced in the Michaelmas term
Michaelmas term
Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following British and Irish universities:*University of Cambridge*University of Oxford*University of St...
, 2008, gaining a First
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in her examinations at the end of her first year, and again in her second year examinations, one of seven members of her year to achieve the grade. Asked about the change of course, Cole explained, "I like doing things I haven't learnt about yet. I've always been interested in art, and I love doing art." Speaking to Judy Rumbold of The Irish Independent, she said, "the decision came from the vague notion that it might be a wise thing to do, that when I was 50, 60, 70, I'd look back and be glad I did it". She gave an interview for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in December 2009 in which she admitted she struggled to settle in to her first year at Cambridge, conceding she was "a bit shell-shocked, but I think everyone finds that".
Cole was in a relationship with American actor Enrique Murciano
Enrique Murciano
Enrique Ricardo Murciano is an American actor. He is best known for playing Special Agent Danny Taylor in the CBS drama Without a Trace.-Early life:...
, star of television series Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
. As of February 2011, the pair are reported to have broken up after two and half years of dating.
In an interview given in January 2010, Cole admitted, "I definitely never thought of myself as model material. Me on a catwalk with all these superwomen?" adding that "if a designer says I inspire them, I'm still not sure how that happened". Cole went on to reveal that her modelling career gave her "a lot of self confidence, which I didn’t have in the past". In February 2010, Cole was voted the fourth "sexiest redhead of all time", after Florence Welch
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch is an English singer-songwriter, best known worldwide as the lead singer of Florence and the Machine...
, Prince Harry of Wales
Prince Harry of Wales
Prince Henry of Wales , commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and fourth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, and Nicola Roberts
Nicola Roberts
Nicola Maria Roberts is a British recording artist and entrepreneur. In 2002 Roberts auditioned for the reality televisions series and competition Popstars The Rivals which saw her finish in the final line-up of a girl group named Girls Aloud...
in a poll conducted by the Daily Mirror.
Modelling career
Magazines and fashion shows
Cole's distinctive red hair has attracted significant media attention. She is also recognised for what Entertainment magazine described as her porcelain doll-like beauty. Cole's modelling career was sparked from a chance encounter while walking through SohoSoho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
when she was approached by Benjamin Hart
Benjamin Hart
Benjamin Hart is an English actor best known for his roles as Foz in British soap Hollyoaks, and as Adam Rhodes in Australian soap opera Neighbours.-Early career:...
, who asked her to consider modelling. She initially declined, later saying, "I was cynical enough to think it wouldn't come to much", though she later changed her mind and signed to Storm Models
Storm Models
Storm Model Management is one of the world's leading model agencies, based in Chelsea, London.-Background:The agency has four divisions; , , and which was launched in 2006. Storm was founded in 1987 by Sarah Doukas from her house in London, securing Richard Branson as her business partner.In...
.
Her break came in 2003 when she caught the eye of photographer Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel is an American photographer, who obtained popular acclaim with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book Sex...
. It was on that photoshoot, her first "only girl" story for Italian Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, that Cole was "catapulted into the spotlight" as one of the leading new faces of the year. Since then, Cole has worked with many other prominent photographers, including Craig McDean
Craig McDean
Craig McDean is a British fashion photographer originally from Middlewich near Manchester, but now based in New York City....
, Nick Knight
Nick Knight (photographer)
Nick Knight OBE is a British fashion photographer, documentary photographer, and web publisher—as director of SHOWstudio.com.-Life and career:Knight studied at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design....
, Juergen Teller
Juergen Teller
Juergen Teller is an artist and fashion photographer.-Life and career:Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich, Germany...
, Arthur Elgort
Arthur Elgort
Arthur Elgort in New York) is a fashion photographer, who has become especially known for his work as a Vogue photographer.-Life and career:...
, and Irving Penn
Irving Penn
Irving Penn was an American photographer known for his portraiture and fashion photography.-Early career:Irving Penn studied under Alexey Brodovitch at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art from which he was graduated in 1938. Penn's drawings were published by Harper's Bazaar and he...
.
At the 2004 British Fashion Awards
British Fashion Awards
The British Fashion Awards is a ceremony held annually in the United Kingdom to present awards to those who have made the most outstanding contributions to British clothing design during the year. The awards include that of British Designer of the Year, and Outstanding Contribution as well as...
, Cole was named "Model of the Year". She has since made appearances on the covers of many fashion magazines including, amongst others, the American, Italian, British, Japanese and Korean editions of Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Citizen K, V
V (American magazine)
V magazine is an American fashion magazine published since 1999. The magazine is printed seasonally and highlights trends in fashion, film music and art. A men's fashion quarterly entitled VMAN started as an offshoot in 2003.-History:...
and Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
as well as featuring on Vogue
She has also had cover appearances on Numéro
Numéro
Numéro is an international fashion magazine published by the Groupe Alain Ayache. It has a circulation of 80,000. The women's publication has reached its 100th issue...
and Interview
Interview (magazine)
Interview is an American magazine which has the nickname The Crystal Ball Of Pop. It was founded in late 1969 by artist Andy Warhol. The magazine features intimate conversations between some of the world's biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers...
.
She has modelled on the international runway circuit and at many fashion shows on behalf of Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen is a Taiwanese fashion house, whose founder and brand innovator Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia is often referred to as the Chanel of Taiwan,and is the eponym of her luxury goods brand. She was born in 1951 in Changhua, Taiwan and founded the company in 1978...
, DKNY
DKNY
DKNY is a label of fashion designer Donna Karan. It is also the name of a clothing store in New York City featuring Donna Karan's associated line.-History:...
, Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose strength with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows...
, Jasper Conran
Jasper Conran
Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran OBE is an English fashion designer. He is the son of the designer Sir Terence Conran and the author Shirley Conran.-Education:He was educated at Port Regis School and Bryanston School in the 1970s...
, John Galliano
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
, and Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...
. She was nominated, for the second time, for the "Model of the Year" award at the 2007 British Fashion Awards and, in December 2009, was listed by Vogue Paris as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Cole's modelling career continued in 2010. She made a cover appearance on the January 2010 issue of the Canadian Elle, as well as giving an interview to the magazine and opening Hermès
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès is a French high fashion house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfumery, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear...
's winter 2010/2011 collection at Paris Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week is a famous fashion week held semi-annually in Paris, France with Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation...
in March, wearing a black leather catsuit and bowler hat.
Towards the end of 2010, she featured in a documentary chronicling the career of Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
in which he painted her dressing up as the Queen of the fairies from A Midsummer's Night Dream.
Nude appearances
Cole made her first nude appearance in 2007, when she was photographed naked by Juergen TellerJuergen Teller
Juergen Teller is an artist and fashion photographer.-Life and career:Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich, Germany...
in a shoot showing full frontal nudity for Paradis, an upmarket French men's magazine.
She went on to appear nude in, and on the front cover of, the French edition of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine in October 2008. However, there is no frontal nudity or topless pictures in this pictorial. The shoot was inspired by the cover of French musician Serge Gainsbourg's 1971 album "Histoire de Melody Nelson
Histoire de Melody Nelson
Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The Lolita-esque pseudo-autobiographical plot involves the middle-aged Gainsbourg unintentionally colliding his Rolls Royce Silver Ghost into teenage nymphet Melody Nelson's bicycle, and the subsequent...
" and attracted controversy, with calls for Cole to be dropped from her contract with British high-street chain Marks and Spencer. However, M&S stated that it "stood by Lily", arguing she "is a popular, high profile, model who is very much in demand, and this is one of the key reasons why we have chosen to work with her". A spokesperson for M&S insisted, "It's entirely her own choice as to what other work she accepts and we would not wish to interfere with her career." Cole herself defended the photographs as art, saying "Nudity has always existed in art ... it doesn't necessarily 'debase' anymore than it celebrates ... the human body". Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal compared the work to Manet's Olympia despite the criticism. Cole also featured topless in the 2010 edition of the Pirelli Calendar
Pirelli Calendar
The Pirelli Calendar is a trade calendar published by the Pirelli company's UK subsidiary. It has become an annual publication that dates back to 1964....
alongside Daisy Lowe
Daisy Lowe
Daisy Rebecca Lowe is an English fashion model who has modelled for editorial photo shoots and commercial advertising campaigns and has worked as a runway model...
and Dutch model Marloes Horst. In 2010, Cole appears in an implied nude image on the cover of photographer Rankin's thematic book of nudes "Painting Pretty Pictures."
Advertising
Cole has appeared in advertising campaigns for ChanelChanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, Christian Lacroix
Christian Lacroix
Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.-Early life:Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from high school in 1969...
, Hermès
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès is a French high fashion house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfumery, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear...
, Longchamp, Cacharel
Cacharel
Cacharel is a French brand of ready-to-wear clothing, perfume and accessories. It was created in 1962 by Jean Bousquet, in Nîmes, who founded the company of the same name in 1964...
, Topshop
Topshop
Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
, and Anna Sui
Anna Sui
Anna Sui is an American fashion designer. Her luxury brand retails globally in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Her clothing, fragrance, cosmetic, and accessories lines sell at Anna Sui stores in over 50 countries and are also widely distributed at leading department stores...
Cosmetics, as well as being the face for Moschino
Moschino
Moschino is an Italian fashion design house and manufacturer of women's, men's and children's fashion.-History:The brand was originally created in 1983 by the late Franco Moschino...
's perfume "I Love Love".
In September 2007, Cole was announced as the follow-up model for Accessorize, taking the place of Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer is a German model and occasional actress, who reached the peak of her popularity during the 1990s, initially due to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. Schiffer is one of the world's most successful models, having appeared on over 500 magazine covers...
, also designing a line of handbags for the collection.
Cole has been modelling for cosmetics company Rimmel London
Rimmel
Rimmel is a cosmetics brand, now owned by Coty, Inc.. The House of Rimmel was originally founded by Eugene Rimmel in 1834 in Regent Street, London, UK....
since October 2009, as well as featuring in advertisements for jewellers Tiffany & Co. Cole, along with Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
and other models became a "face" of Marks and Spencer clothes advertising campaign, making the youngest model to ever do a campaign for the line, though her contract was not renewed by M&S in late 2009 as the company struggled as a result of the financial crisis. Although having expressed a desire to focus more on her acting career, Cole launched a campaign in June 2010 at London Gatwick Airport
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
for modelling agency, Storm Model Management. The campaign aims to find new modelling talent from people passing through the airport, with the agency hoping to re-create the discovery of Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
, who was spotted at JFK Airport, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1988 by the agency's founder.
Films
Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
announced in February 2006 that he intended to cast Cole in his upcoming film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll
Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll
Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll is an upcoming fantasy-horror film by Marilyn Manson with Geoffrey Cox and Anthony Silva. It is directed by Marilyn Manson as part of his Celebritarian Corporation art movement, and is his directorial debut as a feature filmmaker. It is being produced by...
as Alice. Shorts from the movie have been featured on his website and a feature length
Feature length
Feature length is motion picture terminology referring to the length of a feature film. According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a feature length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes to be eligible for an Academy Award.The term may also...
film is also planned, though it is unknown if or when it will be released.
Cole made her acting debut as Polly the geek in the 2007 comedy St. Trinian's, a rework of the black and white films of the 1950s and '60s, alongside Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
, Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
, Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
, Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Auckland Whittaker is an English actress, perhaps best known for her work in the film Venus . She also starred in the ITV1 series Marchlands playing the young Ruth who had lost her daughter Alice.-Career:...
and Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
.
However, Cole's first leading role came in Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's 2009 fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a traveling theater troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations...
. Cole played Valentina, the teenage daughter of Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
's title character, Dr Parnassus, whom Parnassus has promised to The Devil (Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
) upon her 16th birthday. Acting alongside Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
(who died before filming had finished), Cole, in an interview for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
admitted that, at times, she felt out of her depth in the role- saying “I’d only done a couple of films and here I was surrounded by amazing actors like Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger, and it was intimidating at times,” also describing the role as "the biggest role I’ve ever done". Terry Gilliam, director of Parnassus, when asked, said of Cole: “She has an amazing look and grasps what is required so very quickly. If she wants a career as an actress, she has a brilliant future”. According to Mark Olsen of The Los Angeles Times, writing as Parnassus was released in the United States, "Cole brings a surprising well of emotional tenderness to her part as Valentina", while Ryan Michael Painter wrote of the film on 'inthisweek.com' that "all of the performances are delightful, particularly Cole's as Valentina, proving that the haute couture model has more to offer this world than a pretty face".
Cole also appeared at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
in December 2009 to promote Parnassus.
She also featured as herself in one episode of the online series T Takes, a series of short, improvised films published by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
Cole also appeared as "Lettuce Leaf", a celebrity supermodel in the 2009 film, Rage
Rage (2009 film)
Rage is a 2009 film written and directed by Sally Potter starring Jude Law and Judi Dench. The filmmakers said that the film created a new genre in filmmaking, called naked cinema.-Press releases:...
directed by Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter is an English film director and screenwriter.-Career:Having left school at sixteen to become a filmmaker, Potter joined the London Film-Makers' Co-op and started making experimental short films, including Jerk and Play...
. Cole originally auditioned for the part of Minx, which later went to Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
, with whom Cole had worked on Parnassus.
Cole plays the minor part of "Aline" in the upcoming film There Be Dragons
There Be Dragons
There Be Dragons is a historical epic written and directed by Roland Joffé, a British filmmaker well known for directing The Mission, The Killing Fields and Captivity. It is a drama set during the Spanish Civil War which features themes such as betrayal, love and hatred, forgiveness, friendship,...
, scheduled for release in 2010.
In January 2010, Cole gave an interview to the Canadian edition of Elle in which she expressed her desire to focus more on acting than on her modelling career, saying she "wouldn't want to treat acting as a convenient thing to do now and again", going on to mention her roles in the upcoming films There Be Dragons and Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll and saying of her modelling "I've been doing modelling for years and I feel like I've taken out of it what I need to and I'm ready for new things" and that "film asks for a much bigger emotional and intellectual commitment."
Later in 2010, Cole will have a part in Mary Harron
Mary Harron
Mary Harron is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter best known for her films I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page.-Overview:...
's The Moth Diaries.
Other roles
Cole made a minor appearance in the music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
/Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
cover of "Walk This Way" in aid of the British telethon charity Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
, in which she struts up and down a catwalk in "hilarious ways", interspersed by the bands and several well-known British television personalities. Cole had another minor role in Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
's 2008 video "Can’t Go Back", in which she and other models featured in a horror-style video based on the films of Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
. The models, including Cole, are graphically "murdered" and "meet their ends in rather striking ways" with the aim of looking "hot even when dead".
It was reported in October 2009 that Cole would be making her stage debut at the Old Vic Theatre
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
at the theatre's annual "24 Hour Plays" held in November, but "scheduling commitments" forced her to pull out. Cole ultimately made her stage debut at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge, as Nina in a student production of The Seagull.
Cole appeared in "The Curse of the Black Spot
The Curse of the Black Spot
"The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Stephen Thompson, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
", the third episode of the sixth series
Doctor Who (series 6)
The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011 and the final six episodes from August to October. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill continued their roles as The Doctor, Amy...
of science fiction series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, in May 2011. She played a Sea Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
.
Charity work
Cole supports a variety of humanitarian and environmental causes. She is an ambassador for children's charity Global AngelsGlobal Angels
Global Angels an international charity founded by Molly Bedingfield. Molly's children Daniel Bedingfield, Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle have contributed greatly to the organization and the organization is a children's charity meant to stop child trafficking and child poverty.Yamaha...
. She also supports the charity WaterAid
WaterAid
WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation set up as a response to the UN International Drinking Water & Sanitation decade . WaterAid is dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. It is based in London, England and was...
, speaking for the organisation's "End Water Poverty" campaign, and the Environmental Justice Foundation
Environmental Justice Foundation
The Environmental Justice Foundation is a [non-governmental organisation]] founded in 2001 by Steve Trent and Juliette Williams that promotes the non-violent resolution of human rights abuses and related environmental issues in the Global South...
Cole has modelled a T-shirt with the slogan "Save the Future" to fight child labour in the fashion industry for the Environmental Justice Foundation. Most recently Cole put a plaster cast bust of her torso on the auction site eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
to raise money for British telethon charity Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
.
In December 2009, Cole attended a party, hosted by Sir Elton John for which guests were asked to design their ideal bar with the designs then sold at auction in aid of the Elton John AIDS Foundation
Elton John AIDS Foundation
Elton John AIDS Foundation is one of the world's leading nonprofit organizations that was established by Sir Elton John in 1992 in the US * and 1993 in the UK * supporting innovative HIV/AIDS prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.EJAF has...
.
Lily devotes much of her spare time to ethical causes – over the years she has lent real support to various charities including WWF, Christian Aid and The Ethical Justice Foundation.
In October 2010 Lily helped launch the World Land Trust’s Emerald for Elephant Exhibition, which was designed to create awareness and raise important funds for the protection of the critically endangered Asian elephant.
Environmental campaigning
Cole is an ally for Western ShoshoneWestern Shoshone
Western Shoshone comprises several Shoshone tribes that are indigenous to the Great Basin and have lands identified in the Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863. They resided in Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. The tribes are very closely related culturally to the Paiute, Goshute, Bannock, Ute, and...
, an environmental organization specialising in work to halt gold and diamond mining, which is alleged to displace indigenous peoples worldwide and alleged to create excessive amounts of mining waste and toxins.
As the face of De Beers, Lily went to the Kalahari to see for herself the work their charity was doing to support the plight of the Bushmen. While there she discovered their hand-crafted Ostrich eggshell jewellery and introduced the range to various prestigious retailers including Dover St Market where it still being sold.
Cole has been seen wearing the £5 eco-friendly Anya Hindmarch
Anya Hindmarch
Anya Susannah Hindmarch MBE is an English fashion accessories designer.-Biography:Born in Maldon, Essex, to a self-made man, Hindmarch was educated at Elm Green Preparatory School, a preparatory School in Little Baddow. At 16 Hindmarch was given an old Gucci handbag by her mother...
handbag bearing the slogan "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" and wrote the foreword for Tamsin Blanchard's 2007 book Green Is The New Black, a guide to being fashionable while remaining eco-friendly. She also had involvement in creating an environmentally friendly knitwear company, The North Circular, whose products are made from the wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
of rescued sheep, from which 5% of all profits, and all of Cole's, are donated to the Environmental Justice Foundation. She launched a womenswear range for the company in February 2010.
As part of her modelling work for Marks and Spencer, Cole's face (along with that of Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
) appears on a range of alternative shopping bags launched by the retailer in efforts to reduce the number of plastic carrier bags it gives out.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | St. Trinians | Polly | |
| 2009 | Valentina | ||
| 2009 | Rage Rage (2009 film) Rage is a 2009 film written and directed by Sally Potter starring Jude Law and Judi Dench. The filmmakers said that the film created a new genre in filmmaking, called naked cinema.-Press releases:... |
Lettuce Leaf | |
| 2009 | Passage Passage (2009 film) Passage is a 2009 short drama film, directed by Shekhar Kapur, written by Sheila Callaghan and Amy Kaufman, composed by A.R. Rahman, and starring Haley Bennett, Julia Stiles and Lily Cole. It was shot in Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina... |
Tania | |
| 2011 | Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior... |
Sea Siren | Episode: "The Curse of the Black Spot The Curse of the Black Spot "The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Stephen Thompson, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the... " |
| 2011 | There Be Dragons There Be Dragons There Be Dragons is a historical epic written and directed by Roland Joffé, a British filmmaker well known for directing The Mission, The Killing Fields and Captivity. It is a drama set during the Spanish Civil War which features themes such as betrayal, love and hatred, forgiveness, friendship,... |
Aline | |
| 2011 | Ernessa | Post-Production | |
| 2011 | Confessions of a Child of the Century | Announced | |
| 2012 | Snow White & the Huntsman | Greta | Filming |
| TBA | Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll is an upcoming fantasy-horror film by Marilyn Manson with Geoffrey Cox and Anthony Silva. It is directed by Marilyn Manson as part of his Celebritarian Corporation art movement, and is his directorial debut as a feature filmmaker. It is being produced by... |
Alice | Postponed |