The model going places - fast
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Charlotte Dutton, one of Britain's leading snowboarders, is also tipped to become one of the hottest faces of 2003 in the modelling world.

This spring, the 22-year-old will star in Topshop's "Unique" campaign, shot by fashion photographer Rankin. She has also been photographed - nude - by David Bailey for a forthcoming exhibition.

In 2002, her willowy 5ft 8in frame was splashed across billboards advertising the new Vauxhall Vectra. Before that, her cropped hair was dyed pink for a Vidal Sassoon campaign. This year, she is to become "the body" for a British lingerie giant. But for now, she is doing what she loves best - snowboarding - halfway up a mountain in Whistler, Canada.

A few years ago, a model of Dutton's advanced years (by industry standards) would have been put out to grass by now. These days, when some of the models most in demand are pushing 30 and bringing up children in between shoots, age is irrelevant.

According to Isis, Dutton's model agency, the fact that modelling isn't her only career is what makes her so bankable. Charlotte Dutton is not your average snow babe. She is taller, thinner and more hyperactive than most chilled-out boarders. She is also mature. She has had to be: she left her parental home in Acton, London, aged 16 (after gaining 12 GCSEs) to take up a scholarship at Stratton Mountain School in Vermont.

"I brought with me tons of nightclub gear and I wasn't even allowed in pubs. It was an American ski resort, which was really geeky, and I missed browsing in fashion shops. Even then, my style was 'sexy, London chic'; my clothes were bought mostly in Topshop and in Camden Town."

What makes Dutton stand out, both on the slopes and at model castings, is her unique style. With just over a year's experience, she has joined the new model army of hip London chicks, which includes Fanny Bostrom, Liberty Ross and Lizzy Jagger: all girls who are booked as much for the way they put their own clothes together as for their pretty faces.

"I always wear make-up and high heels," Dutton says. "When I met my boyfriend's parents in Canada, I wore over-the-knee boots and slid around on the ice at his farm. If they weren't so impractical, I'd wear stilettos on the slopes, along with a mini."

After discovering snowboarding at the age of 12 on a family ski trip, Dutton began to compete in junior competitions. She turned "pro" at 16 and came 16th in the Junior US Open. "My style evolved because I didn't have much money. My trademark was always choppy hair. I don't do 'safe'."

She was discovered by an art director at Vidal Sassoon while walking down a street in London, which led to a proper haircut and a worldwide ad campaign.

The Storm model agency spotted the pictures and recruited Dutton, who modelled "half-heartedly" in between competitions. Her current agency, Isis, specialises in models with dual careers, such as Lisa Snowden, the model-turned television presenter, and several It-girls.

"As a snowboarder, money is tight and so any way of making money is great. I've always loved clothes.

"I owe a lot of my style to my mother. She eggs me on and spoils me rotten, buying things I love which I can't really afford. I wouldn't be anywhere without support from her and my dad, both financially and morally.

"Encouraging me to snowboard kept me out of trouble as a mouthy kid, growing up in Ealing. It also gave me a goal."

Charlotte's latest goal, apart from securing another campaign to help pay for her next trip to Whistler, is to become an ambassador for British sport. "Any sport, whether it's snowboarding or whatever. Compared with the States, young British girls have a poor reputation for getting involved in sport, but for some reason they really look up to models. If I can help persuade young girls that they can keep their figures - and sanity - through snowboarding, rather than dieting or doing 100 sit-ups a day - it would be my way of giving something back."