KUALA LUMPUR: County Tyrone, Northern Ireland teenager Alice McGrath shares a video of herself online, in full Loreto Grammar School uniform, and is thrust into the world of catwalks.
BBC News reported recently that Northern Ireland's latest supermodel has just embarked on an amazing journey worthy of a Hollywood movie.
"Honestly it is just luck," said the 19-year-old supermodel.
"It is something I'd never thought about, but my aunts have always thought that I should be a model."
Her aunts were probably right.
Around the time of the second pandemic lockdown, Alice was discovered on the social media video platform TikTok by a talent scout from IMG models.
The video itself was unremarkable, she said, as she was dressed in her uniform and eating lunch.
After checking the scout's credentials, a video call was arranged to discuss what could possibly happen.
A few weeks later Alice travelled to London, where she was signed with the agency.
However, she kept that news private.
"I didn't tell anyone. It's an industry where there's a lot of stigma around it.
"I didn't want to make my life any more difficult. I kept it low until September 2023," said Alice, adding that during that month she made her runway debut for Magharafelt-born designer JW Anderson.
"I was so nervous when I was doing the first castings.
"I was so quiet and so shy."
After her first runway, Alice was ready for more, booking further catwalk appearances for Chanel, Erdem and Dior.
"Opening the Dior show I didn't realise how big of a deal it was at the time, they didn't tell me until the morning I got there so I couldn't think about it," she said.
She has built a strong relationship with the French fashion house, appearing in their recent advertising campaign.
Alice has found herself surprised by the workings of the industry.
"I thought everyone was going to be so mean, you see TV shows like America's Next Top Model, but it's not like that," she said.
Had her original plan come to pass, Alice would be finishing her first year of studying finance and economics at Queen's University Belfast.
"I don't think it was necessarily right for me, so this is a blessing in disguise," she said.
"You never know what's going to happen, this industry changes so fast so I'm just focusing on what I'm doing now."
Alice stills sees herself settling in Northern Ireland, where family and friends are really proud of what she has achieved.
"My parents own an opticians in the town, everyone that comes in now is just asking about me," she said.
And while the polished editorial spreads may dazzle some family members, others have their own measure of success.
"My grandmother was showing her sisters my Dior advertisements, but they were more impressed with the Irish Times article I was in!"