Edie Campbell is explaining the inspiration behind the chocolate-brown houndstooth suit she recently co-designed for the British heritage label Sunspel. “You know the really garish suits that Danny DeVito wears in Matilda? I kind of wanted to do that but make it a little bit more refined,” she says. “Somewhere between that and King Edward VIII.” 

It’s not often someone lists the nefarious car salesman Harry Wormwood as one of their style icons. Then again, Campbell – dressed in a green Arket vest and a pair of “ancient” slouchy Comme des Garçons trousers that she stole from her dad – is no ordinary model. Propelled to fame after starring in a Burberry campaign alongside Kate Moss in 2006, the 32-year-old – who has an art history degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art – has appeared on numerous Vogue covers, been named model of the year at the Fashion Awards and walked for fashion houses such as Dior, Saint Laurent and – perhaps most notably – Marc Jacobs’ final show for Louis Vuitton, where she strode down the runway wearing nothing but a feathery headdress, a crystal-embellished G-string and some black body paint. “I was absolutely trollied when I agreed to it,” she recalls. “But I remember thinking I can’t say no to this. If I say no, I am just pathetic.”