Amber Le Bon follows mother Yasmin

Laura Craik
8 May 2009

In the modelling world, 19 is geriatric. But it's the age Amber Le Bon was when she first signed to Models One, the same agency her mother, Yasmin, has been with for some 18 years. "Mummy wanted me to put it [modelling] off for a while," explains Amber. After meeting her, I can understand why. The Heathfield-educated eldest daughter of Yasmin and her husband Simon, lead singer of Duran Duran, seems very sweet, very charming and very innocent.

While her contemporary, Peaches Geldof (whom she briefly went to school with), is a married, party-loving cynic, Amber still speaks fondly of the midnight feasts at boarding school. This is not how you expect the London-raised scion of a model and a pop star to be. But then, Yasmin and Simon Le Bon are not your conventional celebrity couple. For a start, they have been happily married for 23 years.

"I know," swoons Amber. The secret to their happy union? "Well, Daddy's away a lot touring, so I suppose they have a chance to miss each other. And it also means they don't get on each other's nerves so much. Mummy goes to India quite a lot, too." Shared interests might also be a key. "They both do martial arts; they have a trainer twice a week. They wake up so early, but I'm not a morning person. I stumble downstairs and they're like, 'Hi, Amber! What are you going to do today?'"

Pressed on what life was like growing up in such a starry household, Amber is as nonchalant as only a "daughter of" can be. "My parents are just normal, everyday people. I didn't know they were famous until I saw a documentary about Duran Duran. I had a normal upbringing. I mean, I don't know anything else, I've nothing to compare it to."

Amber still lives at the family home in Putney and takes full advantage of the wardrobe opport-unities this affords. "My look changes according to my mood, what's clean and what I can borrow from my mother and sisters," she smiles.

In a Topshop dress, Topshop shoes, American Apparel cardigan and her mother's Azzedine Alaia belt, she is a healthy-looking antidote to the current catwalk vogue for thin and wan. With her first advertising campaign already under her belt, for River Island, as well as some catwalk appearances at next month's London Fashion Week, the future looks very "bon" indeed.

• 

  The Middleton sisters look-a-likes

  The Middleton sisters' look has been cloned by catalogues trying to sell an English style, says Jasmine Gardner

  ---

• 

  Who put the sex into cycling?

  Make-up, good grooming and a preference for designer gear - Britain's young cyclists are a sponsor's dream, says Matt Majendie

  ---