Who

Elson is a British model known for her bright red hair, pencil-thin eyebrows, and relationship with Jack White of the White Stripes.

Backstory

The Manchester native signed her first modeling contract at 16 but struggled to get noticed in London and Paris. She decided to move to Tokyo, where she'd heard red headed models were in high demand, and landed a string of high paying gigs. It was while she was in Milan that she met photographer Steven Meisel; she later shaved off her eyebrows at Meisel's request to create a memorable cover for Italian Vogue. Elson decamped to New York at the age of 18, taking up residence with Ford Modeling Agency founder Eileen Ford. She was eventually lured away from Ford to the trendier DNA agency, where she's been ever since.

Of note

Elson's not a standard beauty like many of her mainstream peers, but that hasn't stopped her from becoming one of the most successful avant-garde models in recent history. Her face has appeared on countless magazine covers—including the Spanish, Japanese, UK, French, Italian, and American editions of Vogue—and she's walked the runway for designers like Michael Kors, Anna Sui, Diane von Furstenberg, Kenneth Cole, Dior, and Zac Posen. (She even appeared in the Marc Jacobs show while she was pregnant in fall 2006.) She's recently started branching out to music, recording a few songs with the Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha (whom she once dated), and performing with the cabaret troupe The Citizens Band.

Family ties

Elson has a fraternal twin sister, Kate, who is also a model.

Personal

In June 2005, she married White Stripes frontman Jack White, whom she met while filming a music video for the Stripes' "Blue Orchid." After dating for all of a month, the pair got hitched in a shamanic ceremony in a canoe on the Amazon River. The couple has two children, Scarlett Teresa and Henry Lee. They have an apartment in Tribeca and a home in Nashville.

No joke

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana once booted her from their Milan runway show for being "too fat."