FRAN SUMMERS

From the small civil parish of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Francesca Summers, who has already been compared to English icons like Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy, has been nothing short of sensational since embarking on her fashion journey in 2016, enamoring many in the industry with her witty personality and tenacious optimism.

There’s every good reason
For letting you go
She’s sneaky and smoked out
And it’s starting to show

“My personality in five words: Fun, positive, outgoing, hopefully friendly, all over the place.”

As a shy child and student of drama, Fran delighted in shows like Ugly Betty and America’s Next Top Model. But the same love for such shows made Fran reluctant to attempt anything like modeling. “I used to watch Ugly Betty and America’s Next Top Model, so I was scared to even start modeling. But it’s totally more chill than that.”

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

But it wasn’t until she was 15, when visiting her older sister in London, wondering around the Mac cosmetic store that a make-up artist named Naima, asked Fran if she ever thought about modeling. Fran amused by the idea decided to tag along with her sister and Naima on their day off to Storm Management.

I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go

“I thought it would be laughs and giggles to be turned down,” says Fran. “Then we walked in and they handed me a contract.”

Two years later, Fran made her runway debut in Christopher Kane’s spring/summer 2017 show, a moment in her life where she readily admits she was overcome with nerves, went the the wrong way in rehearsal, yet getting to walk in Crocs squelched most of her anxiety during the show. “We got to walk in Crocs,” she says. “It was a dream.”

I’ll never let you turn around, your back on each other
That’s a good idea, break a promise to your mother
Turn around, your back on each other

The following year in 2017, Fran appeared in almost 20 shows. She walked for everyone from Prada, Dior, Saint Laurent, Chloe, Givenchy, Celine, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Miu Miu, and Louis Vuitton. Fran even had her first editorials for the Go-See and Society Girl, but the following year would eclipse even that.

You say that I changed
Well maybe I did
But even if I changed
What’s wrong with it?

I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go

In 2018 alone, Fran walked in up to 80 shows, graced her first cover for Vogue Italia, worked in a Prada campaign, opened for the Valentino couture autumn/winter 2018 show, and appeared in at least 26 editorials, including Vogue, Interview Magazine, Love Magazine, The Sunday Times Style Magazine UK, and i-D Magazine.

I’ll never let you turn around, your back on each other
That’s a good idea, break a promise to your mother
Turn around, your back on each other

Today, Fran is one of the most in demand fashion models around, is already among the top 50 according to models.com and has walked in over 200 shows to date. Fran was featured on the cover of the Wall Street Journal, which included an article detailing her rise to stardom.

Managing directors, fashion journalist, and stylists alike, sing the praises of Fran and laud her timeless look and natural aptitude for modeling: “Fran has one of those extraordinary faces that would be gorgeous in any decade,” says Storm managing director Sarah Doukas, who discovered Kate Moss. “She is the most fun, interesting and engaged-in-life person.”

“She has the natural walk-in-the-room beauty that stops people dead,” says Vogue’s Kate Phelan, “but also an ability to interpret fashion that’s highly unique. She’s one of those girls who will be defined alongside other famous British models.”

“There is something about Fran that feels very refined and elegant, while remaining fresh and relatable” says Clare Waight Keller, who cast her in the final, Audrey Hepburn-inspired look in her autumn 2018 Givenchy couture show. “I felt that casting a confident woman with timeless allure and natural attitude would bring that iconic dress into 2018.”

And now our friends are gone, are gone
And all the time moves on and on
And all I know is it’s wrong, it’s wrong
And all I know is it’s wrong, it’s wrong
(It’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong, it’s wrong)
If there’s a reason, it’s lost on me
Maybe we’ll be friends, I guess we’ll see

Fran’s optimistic attitude and drive stem from her hardworking and loving parents Keith and Sandra, who own a carpet and flooring business. Fran values her dad’s life advice above all else and told her growing up that being nice doesn’t cost you anything and your attitude ultimately dictates the environment around you.

“He has been the nicest person ever [talking about her father] and he told me growing up that being nice costs nothing.”

Fran as a model is such a one of a kind talent. On the runway, she has this look of dead seriousness; I don’t even think she blinks. When she walks it’s so controlled, her struts are even restrained. She knows how to sway her hips if she wants to, it’s as though she has perfect muscle control. Whatever character she’s playing for the show that day, she’s perfectly into and brings tremendous energy to the audience.

I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go
I’ll never let you go

I also really enjoy her editorial work and characters she’s able to tap into. She can be really silly and colorful like she’s performing in a musical, then there’s times where she can take a more serious tone like in her editorial for Vogue Paris where she dresses up like the Wicked Witch. Fran can also be very sultry like she’s a femme fatale or in a Victoria’s Secret campaign.

As versatile and remarkable Fran the model maybe, Fran the person is even more spectacular. The everyday Fran buys her clothes from charity shops (pretty much the equivalent to Goodwill or thrift stores in the US), sports fanny packs and carries around Bisto gravy granules in her handbag.

You can see in clips on YouTube like from FORD Models and British Vogue just how funny of a person she is. She has this witty way of talking and gesturing, like she’s roping you into a punchline but there really isn’t a punchline, she just ends up laughing at herself, but the delivery is still funny, and she’s great at holding your attention.

“Just be kind. Being nice is nice and it makes you feel nice.”

You could probably fill an entire book with all the great and positive things there are to say about Fran. Out of all of the new faces in the fashion industry, Fran’s personality might be the most captivating and her zeal and tremendous optimism is so infectious. You just can’t help but love Fran Summers.

In an uncertain time where dread stifles the air with viruses, war, and disease, one young woman with a Yorkshire accent, has plenty of love and optimism to spread around. She’s nothing short of being “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” with all the wit of a Monty Python skit and the zaniness of a Simon Pegg movie, a Superlove to never let go, Fran Summers.

I remember the stupid things
The mood rings, the bracelets and the beads
Nickels and dimes, yours and mine
Did you cash in all your dreams?
You don’t dream for me no, you don’t dream for me no
But I still feel you pulsing like sonar from the days in the waves
That girl is like a sunburn I would like to save
That girl is like a sunburn I would like to save
She’s like a sunburn, she’s like a sunburn