As a new season begins, we sat down with model and nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson on the set of our spring-summer campaign, in which she is starring, to speak about the importance of community, her work as a nutritionist and her learnings from the challenges of the past year.

The major catalyst was becoming a mum and having three kids to feed. Suddenly I was very aware of exactly what I was feeding them and it prompted me to go back to school to study nutrition—although my interest in it was there from a young age.

I come from a homeopathic and holistic background so I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of healing the body. Couple that with fashion and modelling—where you are always pulled into the discussion around food—and my interest was definitely cemented.

I think the fashion industry is broadly better than it gets credit for; even though the conversation is often about eating disorders, that was never my experience. It’s more that the fashion industry wants you to look and feel the best you can, so it has always been pretty ahead of the curve with developments in nutrition. I remember trying quinoa on a shoot in New York in the 90s years before anybody else used it.

I still do model, every now and then I get sort of dusted off and wheeled out [laughs]. But what’s lovely about fashion and nutrition is that they are so involved with one another, and the fashion industry has always been so supportive [of my career in nutrition].

Looking great is much more than skin deep, if you want to look great you have to feel great. Understanding both sides of the coin is quite useful.
When I was a model I used to travel a lot, burn the candle at both ends, so that lived experience definitely comes into my work now too.

I know, my kids are always saying, “I want to grow up in the 90s”, but I’m sure they’ll have their time too. But when you’re in it you don’t notice it but looking back you’re like: I’m really glad I was alive then.

I live in Gloucestershire and have done so for a long time now. I love it but I still feel like a Londoner in my heart.

Right now I’m doing sourdough—like every other person on the planet—but I like cooking everything really. We’re a heavily vegetarian-vegan family, but every now and then I do like a little bit of meat, and it’s nice to cook a roast because I very rarely do.

I like to be inspired by what’s going on, so if it’s a beautiful day I’ll make an amazing tabbouleh or grill some fish, or if it’s a really cosy indoors day; make a stew.

Slowing down, definitely. As much as I’m missing London, and travelling more broadly actually, it’s nice not having that franticness of travelling down to London three times a week and squeezing things into my day. I’m enjoying having my kids around more too—they’re great kids.

The community feeling that has been born out of the pandemic is a real comfort. And I don’t just mean my local community, but just the feeling of community in a more general sense. We’re all in this together. And I really appreciate this feeling, and seeing how resilient people are, I mean God, we’re amazing aren’t we?

When I’m pottering in the kitchen, cooking or trying out something new.

I love a vongole because it’s a really easy dish with simple, fresh ingredients, and people always seem to get excited about a vongole. We’ve been having little family dinner parties to keep us busy in lockdown, and we’ve been doing all these creative vegan dishes like cauliflower wings and lots and lots of curries—all of which I’ve really enjoyed.

I like a masculine, tailored look—I’m 5ft 10 so I’m not a girly dresser. I definitely lean towards more boyish silhouettes.

Skinny jeans and a vest is easily my throw-on staple outfit. You can’t beat it.

Try something new. I’m laughing to myself about the sourdough thing—I started it about two weeks ago—and thought what a waste of time this is (I’m aware I’m three lockdowns late to the party on this, too). But taking the time to get your teeth into something else, be it a jigsaw puzzle, or going for a long meditative walk instead of your morning run. Even forcing yourself to watch a film, rather than endless Netflix binges, can be inspiring too.

Pushing yourself a little bit each day, it really doesn’t need to be massive, just tiny steps and eventually they inspire you and push you even further forward. If you expect too much of yourself, the pressure is too much and you end up doing nothing. Small steps in the right direction and you’ll get to that place you want to go.