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Sophie Brownson

County Durham model and TikTok star showing what it's really like working for ASOS and PrettyLittleThing

You might recognise her face from major fashion sites including ASOS, I Saw It First, and PrettyLittleThing.

At 21 years old, Emily Haniffa has worked with some of the biggest names in high street fashion - and it all happened by chance. The County Durham student signed with Newcastle model agency Savalas Models three years ago after being spotted on Instagram by founder Terry Costello.

Since then, she has gone on to model the clothes of huge brands such as ASOS and I Saw It First. But that's not all, as Emily has become a star on TikTok after sharing behind-the-scenes videos from photo shoots that have racked up thousands of views.

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"What I love about modelling is that every day is different and that you are always working with different people," Emily said.

"I love beauty, make-up, hair and clothes. You get to be [like] a Barbie doll for a day, they dress you up and it's so much fun."

Landing a job with PrettyLittleThing has been a career highlight for Emily, who shared her experience modelling for the brand in one of her most popular "come to work with me" TikTok video yet. "PrettyLittleThing was a dream client," she said.

"For girls my age that is where everyone gets their clothes, it is one of the biggest names at the moment. Seeing my photos on the website was just crazy.

"During the lockdown, I shot from home for them. They sent me a huge Amazon parcel with a new camera, tripod and lights and I shot in front of a white curtain.

Emily Haniffa shooting for I Saw It First. (Emily Haniffa)

"I was being sent a full box of clothes every week. For each item that was shot, I was being sent jeans, heels, a bag and jewellery to go with it.

"They said anything I didn't want to keep afterward I could just send it back." Emily continued: "I love TikTok and I thought it was a [good] way to do some mini vlogs about modelling.

"The first video 'come to work with me' video I did was from my day shooting with Pretty Little Thing. It got over 700,000 views and I was just like, 'Oh my God, people are really interested in seeing this.'

"All the comments were people saying they loved seeing this and asked about how to get into modelling. People are always interested in what goes on."

As well as giving an insight into the world of modelling, Emily has also been keen to ensure she is not promoting unrealistic beauty standards to young women and girls. In one candid TikTok video, the model opened up about having lip fillers.

"I had my lips done a long time ago when I was 16 or 17 and had them done a couple of times since," she said.

Emily Haniffa has modelled for major high street fashion brands. (Emily Haniffa)

"I actually had my lip filler dissolved not so long ago and then had the tiniest little bit put back in.

"I think it is important to show stuff like that otherwise there might be girls that watch and think, 'her lips are so in proportion, why are my lips not like that?' When realistically they are not, I have had filler done and stuff.

"I think it is important to show so that people don't have unrealistic expectations of how they should look. It is really important to me that I am not putting out a false ideal for young girls who are like, 'I want to look like that."

So what's next for Emily's modelling career?

"My goal for the future would just be to book some campaigns or shoot abroad," Emily said. "But at the moment I am just enjoying getting lots of work."

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