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Sophie Dahl

Sophie Dahl is an English model and author. She is the daughter of actor Julian Holloway and writer Tessa Dahl, her born name is Sophia Holloway, She born on 15th September 1977 in London. Her maternal grandfather is the late author Roald Dahl and her paternal grandfather was the comic actor and entertainer Stanley Holloway.

Dahl made her name as a "plus-size" model and was hailed by the media and the fashion industry as a glamorous icon who stood apart from the prevailing trend for unhealthily thin models. Dahl was discovered by Isabella Blow, a Vogue stylist who lived in the same building as her family. Sophie had just had an argument with her mother, and was sitting on the front steps of their apartment, weeping. The two strangers struck up a long conversation, and soon after, Blow referred Dahl to Sarah Doukas of the Storm Model Agency in London. Dahl was featured prominently in many large-circulation magazines, including Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and the British, Italian and American versions of Vogue.

In 1996, at the age of eighteen, Sophie Dahl made her name known in the modeling world by appearing in the ground-breaking "Embrace" campaign for Yves Saint Laurent's fragrances. She was one of the most iconic of the YSL muses and went on to feature in commercial campaigns for other major names, including, but not limited to, Motorola, Tiffany's jewelry, Revlon's, and, in 2011, Alexander McQueen. Her ad campaigns featuring her larger size than the average catwalk models at the time were applauded for breaking the mold in which models normally had to conform to.

Dahl achieved a degree of notoriety in 2000 after she appeared in an advertisement for the Yves Saint-Laurent perfume brand Opium. The ad featured a photograph of her posing nude on a fur rug. It was removed from UK billboards after complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Aside from her modeling career, Sophie Dahl has also become a successful author. She began writing when she was in her late teens and published her first novel, The Man with the Dancing Eyes, in 2003. At the same time, she also wrote personal columns for The Guardian newspaper. In 2006, she released two books, a children's novel entitled The recently Discovered Letters of Miss Edith Pretty and an adult novel entitled Playing With The Grown-Ups. Her third and most successful novel, the best-selling The Raw Shark Texts, was released in 2007. In 2016, Sophie Dahl released her fourth novel, The Mercury Fur, and the two released illustration books, The Man with the Dancing Eyes and The Toy Maker of Nuremberg.

Sophie Dahl holds several acting credits, including appearing in the 2004 British film The Mo Room and the 2000 BBC mini-series The Canterbury Tales in which she was casted as a middle-age viator. She has also made appearances on the comedy show, Have I Got News For You, and in a few of her grandfather's film adaptations.

Throughout Sophie Dahl's career, she openly speaks of her struggles with body image. She was hesitant towards her curvaceous body type in an industry where models were getting smaller and thinner. With all the pressure she faced, she embraced her size and said she would never let the pressure of the industry diminish her self-esteem. In a 2002 interview with Elle Magazine, Dahl spoke out against the media's influence on body shape and how it affects her perception of the image industry.

Today, Sophie Dahl continues her career as an author, model, and the senior editor for the magazine, The Happy News, which features stories of triumph, courage, and kindness. Additionally, she has and continues to be an active voice in the conversations surrounding women's false body-image perceptions and body diversity. Sophie Dahl is a glowing example of a woman who never conformed to society's expectations, helped to redefine beauty, and is paving the way for other women to do the same.