LUCAN GILLESPIE

‘River Rock’ brass hoop earrings with resin by Dinosaur Designs. Cropped cardigan, black and beige check shirt and maxi skirt, all by Tommy Hilfiger.

Lucan was scouted at the age of 12. At 13, she shot her first ever project with the highly-imaginative and acclaimed British Fashion Photographer Tim Walker, marking an impressive start to a very illustrious and world-spanning career. Name a magazine, and Lucan has most likely graced its pages. Name a runway, and the same applies. From Katie Grand and Miuccia Prada talking her into a Pixie cut hairstyle and hopping on almost 90 flights in one year to acting in a Netflix series, we sat down with Lucan to get to know one of the fashion industry’s sweetest muses.

Interview by Ella Mansell.

Photographed by Edwin S Freyer. Styled by Tasha Arguile. Makeup by Anna Inglis Hall at Stella Creative Artists using Dr. Loretta. Hair by Michela Olivieri at Caren Agency using R+Co. Socials and videos by Boram Lee Freyer. Hair Stylist assisted by Kathy Jung. Shot at Motherlight Studios. Lucan appears courtesy of Select Model Management.

Have you always been based in the UK?

I was actually born in Vancouver. But I only lived there until I was six months old and then lived in Los Angeles until I was two before coming to the UK. I have lived in Fulham since then, so most of my childhood memories are here. 

Did you always dream of having such an international lifestyle?

When I was young, I travelled mainly just for my parents’ work. Growing up, we rarely went on family holidays abroad so I really only started travelling for my own work when I began modelling. It all happened organically through work.

When, where, and how were you scouted?

I was scouted when I was 12 so I have been modelling for over half of my life now which is quite nuts. I was in a supermarket in Putney just across the bridge from where I live in London. I was just doing the weekly shop with my mum when she sent me off to find something along one of the aisles. While I was looking for this, the scout approached her and handed over a card, so I wasn’t actually a part of this initial conversation. My parents were very skeptical at first, because they both work in the film industry and understand the negative aspects of the creative industries, especially for a girl at such a young age. So, we took time getting to know the agency and getting to know some of the other girls who had also signed with them, and the rest is history! 

It’s definitely very young to start working. Was anyone else your age?

I met more girls my age when I was about 14 or 15. But it was actually quite nice working with older girls because I could learn from them and their experiences. I am still close with lots of the girls I met through the agency when I was 14 because we pretty much all grew up together. 

There’s a preconception that modelling is lonely and isolating. Have you found that?

I think I learnt early on to create energies in the modelling space because what you give out you get back. I remember being so nervous to go to New York for the first time for work, so I got in touch with the British girls who I knew were out there and organised a big dinner for all of us. I learnt to be proactive about socialising. You can combat loneliness a little bit this way. But it definitely gets tricky with all the travelling, especially when you fly somewhere, go straight to the hotel then to the shoot then back on the plane to your next job. I actually think the year before COVID I took 86 flights in one year. It was intense, but I do love travelling and modelling has given me access to incredible parts of the world. If I have time, I pay for an extra day in the hotel and take time to explore a new city or place after a shoot. I have travelled to China twice but didn’t see anything both times which feels like a shame when it is so far away.

Blue denim jacket and jeans, both by DIOR

Are there any places still on your travel bucket list?

I would love to explore Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Alongside modelling, I do entomology (which is the study of insects), volunteering at the Natural History Museum, and so I’d love to visit places with such rich, natural wildlife. 

How did your entomology work start?

At school, I was interested in academic subjects such as biology and maths, alongside creative projects too. I haven’t been to university yet but I’d like to if I have more time in the future. I especially thought about how I could keep my brain active over COVID when the fashion industry shut down. It was during this time that I re-discovered my love of insects and found that a family friend had been volunteering at the National History Museum for 20 years and she introduced me to the team. I’ve been volunteering there for two and a half years, usually for about two days a week. 

What does that involve?

Insect specimens get collected all over the world and arrive at the museum in little vials of alcohol to preserve them. I take them out of the alcohol, dry the specimens and fix anything that might have fallen off under the microscope. I arrange them to look symmetrical and mount them on cards. Then we add all the relevant data to these cards, including where they were collected, who by, and anything else that’s scientifically relevant to contextualise them. Then, they get added to the collection.

Gold brass ribbon hoop earrings, stripe polo shirt and brown cotton skirt, all by CELINE.

Is this what you’d be doing if you weren’t modelling?

I say I’m a Jack of all trades but master of some. I also do photography and have acted a bit. A friend of mine recently asked me to photograph their wedding this summer at Marylebone Town Hall so I’ll be doing that which should be really fun. 

How did your photography work start?

Actually, my very first shoot was with Fashion Photographer Tim Walker. I was 13 and it was a personal project he was shooting which was then exhibited at Somerset House. I think it was to coincide with the release of his Story Teller book. He shot me for two to three days in this country house in the middle of nowhere with these giant insects that they had created, which feels so full circle now, doesn’t it?! It was almost Alice in Wonderland inspired, narrating a school girl discovering this insect world while having tea with a bumblebee among various other scenarios. Tim also inspired me to pick up a camera. He gave me advice and I assisted him a little bit when I was younger including on an American Vogue shoot, a Jo Malone campaign, and a few other things too. He was incredibly kind. Tim actually also gifted me four prints that my parents had framed for my 16th birthday. It feels so nice to have these reminders of my first shoot up on my walls. It’s funny how life works!

‘River Rock’ brass hoop earrings with resin by Dinosaur Designs. Cropped cardigan, black and beige check shirt and maxi skirt, all by Tommy Hilfiger. Leather loafers by AMI Paris.

And acting?

Through modelling, I have learnt to create characters on set, and then through that was given the option to start acting. I was in a TV show called The Serpent that was shown on the BBC and Netflix. It was filmed in Bangkok over a few months. I had very short hair at the time and was the embodiment of hippie culture in the ‘70s, all drugged up, wild, and barefooted. It’s the opposite of who I am but a lot of fun to characterise. A lot of the characters I have played feel different to me. I also played Edie Sedgwick in a theatre production last year at the Institute for Contemporary Arts. She has been a huge reference for a lot of the shoots I have done across my career, especially as we have similar facial features, so I felt like she was someone I could get into the shoes of. I was playing her towards the end of her life when she was in a mental institution, so it was quite dark and intense. Her life is sad when you look into it all. 

That's really exciting. Would you like to do more work in film?

I would love to because I really enjoy it. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two worlds of modelling and acting. I think on fashion sets, you create characters in a shorter space of time. On a film set, you have more of a team camaraderie: you work with the same people over longer periods of time. Modelling is more reactive I suppose, you have no idea what you are doing that day until you turn up on set and are thrown into different scenarios. For a Tim Walker shoot, there was an animal handler on set while I posed with about 500 chicks. For another shoot, I had a 45-minute trampoline lesson at the beginning because they wanted photographs that looked like I was flying or falling. I’d love to do more of this in a film capacity.

Your career sounds pretty amazing. Any highlights?

So, I used to have very, very long hair that my mum would only trim growing up. I’d never had a proper haircut. I then met Katie Grand at a Gucci afterparty who I had never worked with before but greatly respected. I asked her if I should cut my hair short and she said no, to not let anyone touch it. However, she later booked me for LOVE magazine, and following this, she DM’d me saying “Mia Farrow pixie cut for Miu Miu?” a show she was styling based on the collection that was Rosemary’s Baby themed. Miuccia Prada then pulled me aside at the show and gave me a whole speech about how hair doesn’t define you. I thought, “let’s do this”. It was fun.

Blue denim jacket, jeans and white satin silk trainers, all by DIOR

How would you describe your personal style?

Quite an eclectic mix. I love finding pieces in charity shops, secondhand.

Do you have a style idol?

I'll just see things and instinctively know. Sometimes I'll find something that I haven’t worn for five or six years but it still works. I do gravitate towards classic styles, like Jane Birkin in the 60s and 70s, or Alexa Chung and Camille Rowe.

Any skills you’d like to learn?

I spend a lot of time on lots of different things. I grow my own vegetables. I can't learn languages, though. That's the one thing I wish I was better at. I have a 400-day Duolingo streak but I am still so bad at French. One of my neighbours is French and his two-year-old son speaks better than me. 

If you have a day off, what do you get up to?

I tend to stay quite local and hang out around where I live. I wake up, journal for a bit, then cook and bake – probably some pancakes. Out in the garden, I’ll tend to my vegetables – the morning of this shoot I actually found my first courgette! I live by the river so I will probably go for a walk with a coffee and a pastry and take my camera too. At home, I’ll relax, probably by cooking a new recipe.