Charlotte Boggia could not have imagined that a trip to the Arndale shopping centre with her mother to browse for new trainers as a break from GCSE revision would change her life forever.
But for the then 15-year-old schoolgirl, that visit to a Vans store in Manchester saw her plucked from her family’s modest semi in the suburb of Denton and parachuted onto the catwalk in London, Paris, New York and Milan.
Because it was during that trip that Charlotte was spotted by model agency scouts.
And three years on from it, she found herself juggling her studies for A-Levels in maths, economics and German with modelling gigs for the likes of Gucci, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and more.
Though her life might now be spent jetting off across the world, Charlotte still lives with her parents in that £250,000 home on a quiet suburban street – and has managed to keep her feet firmly on the ground.
Her social media is full of snaps from high fashion editorial shoots – nearly every one of which has under it supportive messages from her family, who could not be more pleased for her.
Her proud dad, Leslie Boggia, told the Daily Mail his daughter was living a ‘fairytale’: ‘We are incredibly proud of her – she’s just a very normal girl.’
It is this unpretentious approach that has seen the 19-year-old shoot to burgeoning modelling fame – and this newspaper can now reveal the very ordinary upbringing of one of British fashion’s rising stars.
Charlotte Boggia (pictured) could not have imagined that a trip to the Arndale shopping centre with her mother to browse for new trainers as a break from GCSE revision would change her life forever
But for the then 15-year-old schoolgirl, that visit to a Vans store in Manchester saw her plucked from her family’s modest semi (pictured) in the suburb of Denton and parachuted onto the catwalk in London, Paris, New York and Milan
Though her life might now be spent jetting off across the world, Charlotte (centre, as a child) still lives with her parents (back) in that £250,000 home on a quiet suburban street – and has managed to keep her feet firmly on the ground. Pictured: The family, with Charlotte’s two sisters, Meg, left, and Emily, right
Born without a fashion background, to Les, 55, and his wife Helen Boggia, 54, Charlotte’s first brush with the world of modelling came when she was just 11.
She was at a Little Mix concert with her mother and a friend in Liverpool when they were approached by a scout, according to British Vogue – but the family dismissed the idea entirely and never followed up, convinced the move was a scam.
It was that trip to the Arndale a few years later which saw her first sign on with an agency, Manchester-based Boss Models, the leading talent managers in the north.
A scout spotted Charlotte, who was tall even as a youngster, browsing for trainers with her mother – and such was the girl’s potential for catwalk success that even after she had walked off, the agent sent her son running through the mall to find her, desperate to get her on the books.
She offered the teen a contract near-on there and then – and after talking it through carefully with her parents, she was brought onboard that afternoon.
Incredibly, later that week, she was approached yet again, while waiting at a bus stop in Manchester city centre with her mother.
This time, she had been scouted by Select, a massive global agency which has previously launched the careers of huge names in British fashion, from Sienna Miller, to David Gandy.
Though Boss was, as of just several days prior, already representing her in Manchester, she also signed on with Select to handle any work in London – and her modelling career began while she was still studying for her GCSEs.
Charlotte soon started travelling to Paris with her father for the odd test shoot – but a couple of years passed before her career truly took off, as her managers did not want to launch her as a teen model.
Buying her first ever pair of heels for the occasion, she flew to Milan alone for her first adult casting, with Prada, on her 18th birthday, which her parents were devastated to miss – but she was determined to go it alone. She told almost no one she was going, in fear of failure.
Though she did not end up booking the job, she flew to Paris shortly after, where, having quickly made a last-minute dash to the bathroom amid an understandable bout of nervous nausea, she made her debut with Paco Rabanne and walked her first ever runway.
Just days after turning 18, she was swiftly asked to walk for Louis Vuitton, Chloe and Isabel Marant that same fashion week too – and so began the balancing act of exam revision and globetrotting.
A perfume advert, again with Louis Vuitton, followed, as well as her New York debut, with Calvin Klein, in February last year, and a shoot with US Vogue that October.
She has now worked for a veritable laundry list of brands, including Dior, Valentino, Fendi and Versace – and has opened a Burberry show and closed for Ralph Lauren, a significant hat tip and massive injection of exposure for someone so early on in their career.
But throughout it all, Charlotte has remained her parents’ beloved daughter – a girl who once scrapbooked a McVitie’s biscuit packet she was delighted to find in a French supermarket.
Her father Les told the Daily Mail of his cherished ‘Char’: ‘It has been a shock but she has been building up to this for a few years.
Charlotte has now worked for a veritable laundry list of brands, including Dior, Valentino, Fendi and Versace
She opened a Burberry show and closed for Ralph Lauren, a significant hat tip and massive injection of exposure for someone so early on in their career. Pictured: Charlotte on a billboard
‘It is all very odd as she was scouted when she was very young, aged 11. Then we were just waiting for that to turn into something.
‘She wasn’t overly into fashion but obviously she is now. It is a little bit of a fairytale.
‘Obviously it’s not always like that. It is hard work but then you end up walking for Gucci, for Louis Vuitton. Char has now done shows in Paris, New York and LA – it’s amazing really.’
He continued: ‘We are just a normal family. It certainly hasn’t gone to Char’s head. She is very humble. What we like is that she is just herself most of the time.
‘She is kind and pleasant to everyone – it is what she is kind of known for.’
Charlotte is not afraid of hard graft too and has worked alongside her studies since she was 16 – first behind the till at the University of Manchester gift shop and later at the Broadstone Mill department store in Stockport.
During her time at Loreto College, a Catholic sixth form in Hulme, Manchester, where she graduated last year, she served as environment ambassador and student councillor.
Charlotte, who also has a financial services qualification, then applied to five red-brick universities – Manchester, Liverpool, Bath, Bristol and Leeds – for maths and economics and was accepted by all of them.
And her father said despite her burgeoning career, she remains keen to pursue her studies: ‘She has a place at uni but has deferred it. She is toying with whether to continue this or do uni.
‘She is not sure yet. I mean, this is not Monday to Friday, everywhere around the world. But she has done LA, New York, Milan and Paris. It’s just crazy.
‘She was in Paris and then they told her she was off to do a Miu Miu campaign in Miami. There is an excitement to it but it can be tough.’
Charlotte also loves baking, beyond modelling, and once had a cake-making business called Charlotte’s Bakes, selling her creations at community fairs to raise money for charity.
She is keen to take a prestigious Cordon Bleu cookery course too – to explore whether she might at one point, on top of her modelling career, become a chef.
Her father continued: ‘She is still in touch with most of her college friends. She has been with her boyfriend for a few years now – she met him in college.’
Her partner, Tyler Barnes, is just as ambitious – a former Scout and Army Cadet, with a love of walking and camping, he was deputy head boy at his state school, where he was written up in the local newspaper for his stellar GCSE results.
Studying Politics, Economics and Maths at college, where he joined politics and debate clubs, he became a face of the sixth form’s prospectus – and, like his girlfriend, who follows firms like PwC and Deloitte on LinkedIn, has expressed an interest in pursuing corporate finance.
Charlotte often shares loved-up snaps with her boyfriend on her social media – and a holiday to Porto with him, along with a high-quality secondhand jacket, is one of the only things she has spent her modelling earnings on so far, sensibly squirrelling away the rest into savings.
Her boyfriend, Tyler Barnes (pictured), who she met in sixth form, is just as ambitious – a former Scout and Army Cadet, he was deputy head boy at his state school
Charlotte often shares loved-up snaps with her boyfriend on her social media – and a holiday to Porto with him is one of the only things she has spent her modelling earnings on so far
Charlotte’s ambition and maturity surely comes from her particular closeness to her mother and two older sisters, who are similarly high-achieving. Pictured: Charlotte, as a child, with her sister Meg on a visit to the Coronation Street set
And those wages, an expert has told the Daily Mail, are likely to be sizable – potentially as much as £120,000 a year.
Riley Gardiner, PR expert and founder of No Strings Public Relations, who has worked with thousands of brands over the years, said: ‘For a new but in-demand runway model working consistently at Fashion Weeks, Charlotte could be earning anywhere between £20,000-£80,000 per season.
‘Some higher-end breakout cases push £100,000 though if they secure multiple luxury exclusives or campaigns alongside runway work.
‘It’s still an early-stage career, so income is usually uneven month to month.’
Newer models, even when walking for major fashion houses, typically earn between around £800 to £2,500 per show, depending on the contract, Mr Gardiner said.
But if a model is working exclusively for a major brand that season, they could receive as much as £5,000 to £20,000 for a single show.
‘A busy season across New York, Milan, Paris and London, with around 15 to 30 shows, could realistically generate between £15,000 and £50,000 purely from runway fees for a new face working regularly,’ he explained.
‘If she is also booked for showroom work, editorial shoots or early campaign tests alongside that runway visibility, her annual earnings at this stage could reasonably be up to £120,000.’
And the figure could still rise, Mr Gardiner said: ‘The real step change usually comes when runway exposure converts into campaign contracts, which can move earnings into six figures from a single deal.’
Such ambition, handled with such maturity, surely comes from Charlotte’s particular closeness to her mother and two older sisters, who are similarly high-achieving.
Helen studied Russian at university, while her older sister Emily, 30, pursued archaeology at the University of Nottingham.
Her other sister, Meg, 29, meanwhile, studied at York St John University – and now lives with her partner in York, with their three young children.
This is a tight-knit family which steps up when times get hard – surely shown by Les’s selfless post online in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombings in 2017, offering a bed to anyone affected.
And it is a marker of the strong network of support that should see Charlotte through a tumultuous but exciting time in her career.
She told Vogue: ‘A lot of my friends struggle with the rejection side of modelling, but I’ve always been more worried about simply being so far away from home.’
