British supermodel Georgina Cooper, known as the “original gap-toothed girl” of London, has passed away at the age of 46. The news of her death was confirmed by her friend, Jade Parfitt, on Instagram. She wrote, “Goodbye beautiful girl… Devastated to share the news of George’s passing. One of the funniest and naughtiest, never mind most beautiful friends. We all wanted to hang out with George backstage. Sending so much love to her son, family, and friends… Gone too soon.”
According to reports, she fell ill while on holiday in Greece and died a day before she was due to fly back to the UK.
Cooper rose to fame for her “Cool Britannia” look, characterised by her gapped front tooth, and her appearance on the cover of The Face magazine, photographed by Elaine Constantine. She was a regular on the runways for brands such as Helmut Lang, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, and Hussein Chalayan.
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She began her modelling career at the age of 13 when she took part in the Elite Look of the Year contest in 1992, securing third place and subsequently being signed by Premier Model Management. The agency was run by former model Carole White, who was also the agent for supermodel Naomi Campbell.
A friend of fellow ’90s modelling icon Kate Moss, Cooper appeared in a Bon Jovi music video at the age of 15. She went on to feature in shoots for American and British Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar U.S., i-D Magazine, and British newspaper supplements such asThe Guardian’s Observer Magazine.