When Miriam Cooke won an Irish modelling competition in 1999, it opened up an unexpected world to her as an international fashion model. The Kells, Co Meath schoolgirl was immediately signed to agencies in London, Paris and Milan. “I went straight into it and deferred plans to go to university,” Cooke recalls. For the next few decades, she travelled the world, modelling for Armani, Vogue, Marie Claire and Glamour, and living in the fashion capitals of Paris, Milan, New York, Tokyo, London and Rome.
“I learned from the start that I had to be confident – you are talking about a naive young girl from the country – so you just got on with it.”
Cooke’s sunny, sociable nature and fearlessness about her appearance stood in her favour and explained her almost overnight success. This was the era of the supermodels and she was often compared to Linda Evangelista, a model who was never afraid to change her looks and try something different. “I was like a chameleon,” Cooke laughs.
A period spent studying acting in Rome also helped her grow in confidence and she credits celebrated photographers like Aldo Fallai, responsible for Armani’s campaigns, for some beautiful portraits in black and white of her and others that appeared in Vogue.
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At the time modelling careers were a lot shorter, Cooke says. “I had always had a hankering to go back to university and do something different. Growing up in Meath and surrounded by archeological sites, I was always interested in history and archaeology. When working I would always go off and explore.” Awarded a first from the Institute of Archaeology in University College London, she completed a further MSc in environmental archaeology and currently holds a research position at Newcastle University.
She has also developed a successful career as a broadcaster on BBC, C4, Discovery and National Geographic. She is one of the presenters on BBC One’s Country Tracks and The Story of Now. Her BBC World Service documentary on sound in prehistory, entitled Symphony of the Stones, can be found on BBC Sounds and her new series, Lost Worlds with Miriam Cooke, which she wrote and presented for History Hit channel, was released in May.
Now she is back to modelling again. “It’s like coming full circle,” she says. “The industry has changed and has started to embrace older women: the representation of older women is very important. Clothing companies are using older women – companies like Balenciaga, St Laurent and Loewe. It’s quite encouraging because it is not token.
“Before it was not representative of the larger percentage of the population whose clients are in the over-40s range, so they are catering to that market.”
Such changes have given her new perspectives. “What is 50?” she asks rhetorically. “Fifty can look a variety of ways. This force of EDI [equality, diversity, inclusiveness] is now spreading into the fashion industry and a lot of older women models are interested in getting back into the industry. It’s really great to see and to see how beautiful older women are.”
She recognises that as women age, their bodies change. Cooke uses factor 50 every day, keeps fit, eats well (her morning juices consist of cucumber, celery, ginger, mint, collagen powder and Greek yoghurt) and instead of running, she now does weights for muscle building and strength.
Come September she will be walking in shows at Milan Fashion Week while working on other projects, including a new series of History Hits and another on experimental archaeology and technology, as well as another thriller for a TV series. You can’t keep her down. “It’s a busy time,” says this UK-based mother of two. “But I can’t complain. I love it.”
