Date of Birth

27 December 1987, Torquay, Devon, England, UK

Birth Name

Lily Luahana Cole

Height

5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Mini Biography

Lily began working as an actress when she was 6 years old, then returned to film when she was 16 in Marilyn Manson's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. In 2009 she played the female lead in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Since then she has made over fifteen films with esteemed directors including Sally Potter, Shekhar Kapur, Roland Joffe, Mary Harron and Rian Johnson; performed at the Globe theatre and The Old Vic theatre. Lily wrote and presented a six-part TV series on contemporary art for Sky Arts, shoots photography and directed her first short film Wild Rubber in 2012.

Lily has worked with notable photographers and artists from Steven Meisel to Gilliam Wearing. She was the youngest model to appear on the cover of British Vogue, and was listed by French Vogue as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. As an advocate for sociopolitical and environmental issues, Lily has employed technology, writing, filmmaking and public speaking as means to build awareness and encourage dialogue. Lily was awarded a First Class BA in History of Art from Cambridge University in 2011. In 2013 she co-founded Impossible.com: a technology company that uses technology to solve social and environmental problems.

Lily has spoken at Davos, Google's Zeitgeist, Wired and Web Summit, was an affiliate at the Berkman Center at Harvard University, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Letters from GCU. Lily is a patron of the EJF and has worked significantly with WWF. She writes often for national and international press. 'Impossible Utopias', originally submitted as the thesis for her undergraduate degree, is Lily's first book.

Trivia

• Accepted at Cambridge University to study Politics and English [2006]
• Attended Hallfield Infants and Junior School, then St Marylebone girls school for secondary education and Latymer Upper School for sixth form.
• Attended Colville Primary school prior to Hallfield Infant and Junior School.
• Model and actress.
• In an interview given in January 2010, Cole admitted, "I definitely never thought of myself as model material. Me on a catwalk with all these superwomen?" adding that "if a designer says I inspire them, I'm still not sure how that happened". Cole went on to reveal that her modeling career gave her "a lot of self confidence, which I didn't have in the past". In February 2010, Cole was voted the fourth "sexiest redhead of all time", after Florence Welch, Prince Harry of Wales, and Nicola Roberts, in a poll conducted by the Daily Mirror.
• Cole was in a relationship with American actor Enrique Murciano, star of television series, Without a Trace (2002). As of February 2011, the pair are reported to have broken up after two and half years of dating.
• Cole gained a place to read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge, but twice deferred entry before switching to study History of Art, which she commenced in the Michaelmas term, 2008, gaining a First in her examinations at the end of her first year, and again in her second year examinations, one of seven members of her year to achieve the grade. Asked about the change of course, Cole explained, "I like doing things I haven't learnt about yet. I've always been interested in art, and I love doing art." Speaking to Judy Rumbold of The Irish Independent, she said, "the decision came from the vague notion that it might be a wise thing to do, that when I was 50, 60, 70, I'd look back and be glad I did it". She gave an interview for The Daily Telegraph in December 2009 in which she admitted she struggled to settle in to her first year at Cambridge, conceding she was "a bit shell-shocked, but I think everyone finds that".
• Despite her successful modeling career, Cole retains a commitment to her education, achieving A grades in her A-level examinations in English, Politics, Drama, History, and Philosophy and Ethics at Latymer Upper School. Before Latymer School, Cole attended the primary school Hallfield School (Bayswater, London) and St Marylebone Secondary School.
• In April 2007, Cole first featured in the Sunday Times Rich List, which estimated her net worth at £6 million, ranking her as the 77th-richest young person in the United Kingdom. As of 2009, she is thought to have earned in excess of £11 million.
• Cole was born in Torquay, southwest England, and raised in London, along with one of her two sisters. She was raised by her mother, Patience Owen, an artist and writer; her father, Chris Cole, a boat builder and fisherman, left the household and was not part of his daughter's life while she grew up. Cole attended the St Marylebone church school for girls, before completing her sixth form studies at Latymer Upper School, an independent school in Hammersmith, London. A chance encounter began her modeling career at the age of 14.
• Is in a relationship with Kwame Ferreira. They have a daughter together.
• Gave birth to her 1st child at age 27, a daughter named Wylde Cole Ferreira on September 11, 2015. Child's father is her boyfriend, Kwame Ferreira.

Trademarks:

• Alabaster skin
  
• Red hair
  
• Tall frame
  

Quotes

• I love modeling but also see it as a platform for the million other things I want to achieve and create in life.
• Giving triggers social cohesion. It's also the basis for an economy not based on money.
• As users of the Internet, we all have a role to play in defining what we want it to be.
• When I was younger, I definitely did face anti-ginger prejudice. As a child, all teasing hurts, whether it's because you're fat or a different race or have red hair. I had enough comments from a couple of people to make it a sore point.
• I was of the type who gets bullied rather than the one who does the bullying, which I'm glad about. I'd rather be that than a bully.
• There are so many great, great vintage clothes to find; there's a whole territory unexplored there.
• Life is shining a light through a magnifying glass on me, looking for me to stumble. I think that's my biggest fear.
• I've always gone after fears and tried to stifle them by doing them. It is daunting, but it's more rewarding.
• I'm just a lipgloss, blush and mascara kind of girl. I like playing with a bright lipstick or a heavy eye... But not together!
• I was like most teenagers. I wanted to look more conventional - you know, to just be the pretty girl in school.
• The average Londoner knows just one neighbour. I travel a lot, and I'm always surprised by the strong sense of community in some countries. We've lost something fundamentally human, and we don't even realise it.
• I'm not against people buying clothes; I think clothes are wonderful, and I'm very materialistic myself - but there's a way of finding a compromise. I just think we can buy less and pay more, to make sure people aren't being exploited.
• I paint - I tend more to abstraction - but not as much as I would like to because of time. I would love to do sculpture - I've toyed with the idea of fitting in a sculpture course.
• I don't think of myself as a role model for others, but I like to live my life by my own integrity. So, in that sense, I might be a positive influence. I do believe you should get over your insecurities and just try to be the best you can.
• I guess I try and learn all the time from every experience in life, so my thinking is a hybrid of everything. I'd have to attribute some of that to my work in the fashion industry - in some obscure way.
• I always used to love couture because it was more theatrical than the runways. The runways always felt more like part of the machine.
• Don't overpluck your eyebrows. A make-up artist told me this once, and I've always remembered it.
• I usually have a lip balm in my bag and mascara as well. I don't really wear much make-up, but I like mascara because I've got fair colouring.
• I think the media are so hypocritical a lot of the time in the way they chastise something just so that they can print it again.
• The narrative of so many fairy tales are timeless in so many different cultures, and they have been since the dawn of man. They represent escapism, but they all feature themes that have such poignancy in a modern world.
• I kind of see clothes a bit like role-playing, depending what mood I'm in.
• I have set up several businesses as social businesses, and I am a great believer that the power of business should be used for good.
• I have made a living off the way I look, and I have really learnt to accept myself for being unusual.
• I found going to school when I was modeling very grounding. It's really kept my perspective on bigger things in my life.
• I don't believe there's an afterlife - but I don't believe there's an end to life. Consciousness goes beyond the bounds of your body.
• In British culture, redheads get teased at school. But I've grown up enough to realize I love my hair.
• If I'm anywhere close to where I can hike or swim, that's my favourite thing to do.
• I've always cared about issues, always thought through problems. I don't know how much that comes from my personality or my mum.
• I'll always try to follow my heart into things I love, and modelling is not something I'm dreaming of pursuing forever.
• I love yoga. I don't do it as much as I'd like to, but I feel wonderful when I do.
• Talent is crucial. It needs to be driven by motivation, but blind ambition isn't the key.
• Production chains, how consumers can drive change: all these things may seem at odds with fashion, but arguably, they're not.
• Modelling, fashion and film have all encouraged me to learn more about issues and to feel empowered enough to do something about them.
• It's hard to appreciate the importance of the rainforest because it seems so far away, but it's vital to the survival of the planet as we know it.
• It doesn't make me very happy to be on my computer all the time. I've never been drawn to that world.
• Every time I have to try on a wig for work, I get excited about the colour; I've often thought about going for a platinum bob or also raven black, as it looks so great against pale skin. But I always end up being loyal to my red colour.
• As the generalization goes about the art industry, people can be really challenging and thought-provoking in their thinking and questioning the status quo, and it's really important that the status quo can be questioned and that there are people doing that.
• America has had an influence on me, as has going out with a Cuban-American guy and having lots of American friends. But I am still fundamentally British and speak with a British accent and feel very English.
• Acting is something I've done since I was six years old, performing for my mum and my family in the living room, and I do it because my heart's in it.
• The need to protect the environment has emerged as an undeniably important priority for me.
• I started modeling at 14. It's simple. You respond to what the photographer wants and wear other people's ideas. I got bored with it, though, so I went to university.
• I part-own a bookshop for some strange coincidence of reasons, and it is one of the best things I part-own in my life, or own in my life. I do not know, it just feels great.
• I love beautiful things; I like having nice clothes, and I can appreciate why other people do - but I've also started to learn more about the impact of what we buy: how things are made, how much you buy and the quality of everything.
• I have to admit I've always had quite a complex relationship with modeling and with the idea of advertising: not always knowing what I'm advertising and selling.
• I don't personally follow trends; I don't even like the idea of trends. I think it's kind of absurd that you have to change every six months, so I always try and buy things that hopefully I'll like forever, and resonate with me.
• It's not that I don't believe in creativity and innovation and new ideas, and the creativity that comes with fashion, which I really respect. But one of my biggest concerns is just how cheap we expect everything to be.
• It was a scandal when I did French 'Playboy' in 2008, though I was never actually nude in it. I think it's really funny that I'll have a cover of 'Playboy' to show my grandkids.
• I'm not sure if it's fair to call it a 'fairy tale,' but I really loved 'Mulan,' the Disney film. It was my favorite. I guess it's not really a fairy tale, but you do get Eddie Murphy as a dragon.
• I think models have a lot less power than they did in the '80s, when there were, like, only 10 supermodels who could dictate the rules, whereas now there's so many, and that changes the power dynamic and makes it a more insecure business.
• I think a lot of the most interesting work in art and in films are often kind of polarized opinions and affect people in very different ways, which may be less successful commercially, but they elicit a dialogue that's quite interesting.
• There's an inherent contradiction between appreciating the beauty of clothes and creativity and individuality, and the waste around the ideas of trends and seasons.
• There is a degree of role-playing in modeling, for sure, and you're also in a high-profile job - there are lots of similarities for sure. But when I'm acting, I've got to try and be present, and I've got to be emotionally committed to a character, both physically and intellectually.
• The relationship between art and a job is not quite linear, but I really love any and all manifestations of art, really respect any kind of artistic impulse, whether it's paintings and sculptures or really good filmmaking or music. I really see the relationships between these different mediums as very fluid.
• People do make assumptions about models. That's their issue, not mine. It doesn't bother me because I'm comfortable enough in my own skin - I know who I am.
• Marilyn Monroe and Vivienne Leigh are real icons of mine. In terms of visual culture, they are both so iconic. There weren't any paparazzi shots of them falling out of taxis, so they will always look so incredible.
• With acting, if I'm any good at it, my modeling career would never be a hindrance but would rather be a help. And if I'm not, then it doesn't really matter.