Happy Birthday Twiggy

LAST UPDATED AT 12:22 ON Wed 30 Sep 2009
‘Twiggy’, Bert Stern, undated © Bert Stern / Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery, New York

‘Twiggy: A Life in Photographs’ at the National Portrait Gallery until March 21, 2010. Book published by National Portrait Gallery Publications, £20. Above: ‘Twiggy’, Bert Stern, undated © Bert Stern/courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery, New York

It’s more than 40 years since gangling Neasden schoolgirl Lesley Hornby became Twiggy, the world’s first supermodel, almost over night. Her doe eyes and elfin crop defined Sixties London, and now that decade’s poster girl is turning 60 herself. The National Portrait Gallery is leading the celebrations with an exhibition and book dedicated to her career: her early years in fashion, her stint as a Broadway actress and singer, and her recent return to modelling as the mature face of M&S. Unsurprisingly, the collection boasts some great stuff, from Barry Lategan's original shots that launched her as ‘the Face of 1966’ to Solve Sundsbo’s modern portrait of an icon ageing gracefully.

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Fashion
National Portrait Gallery
Photography
Twiggy