Mary Bowen was spotted on Instagram by local modelling agency and snapped up instantly. Word soon spread to international agency Starsystem where she was signed with the hope of an international career.

And then she walked into the live Oxford Fashion Week castings and the judges instantly knew that they’d found someone special, not just in terms of fronting their 2016 campaign and catwalk shows, but for the future.

“I knew as soon as I saw Mary I knew that this was the girl we had been looking for. I couldn’t take my eyes off her and afterwards she was the one we kept going back to, the one none of us could forget,” Tiffany Saunders, OFW

Creative Directer said.

“So in terms of choosing The Face of Oxford Fashion Week it was an easy decision to make this year.”

Considering Tiffany saw 300 hopeful models pour through the door, you’ll get an idea of what a big impression Mary made.

“It wasn’t just about her looks, she is very beautiful but she’s got ab great sense of humour and really easy to talk to. She’s a great girl all round. We love her already. She has so much potential. This is just the beginning."

Mary who is doing her GSCEs this summer at Headington High School lives in Tackley with her parents, famous potters Jane and Dylan Bowen, and is planning to go to St Martins art college.

So what if her modelling career really takes off after this? “I’ll go with it,” she grins gleefully.

Now safely under the wing of the Oxford Fashion Week team, Mary will not only be tutored by Tiffany- a model and former Face of OFW herself, but taught to walk and pose, as well as made up by legions of hairdressers, make up artists, nail technicians ready for Saturday night, the runway shows which will close OFW, before being whisked off to Paris next week for more of the same.

Because this year Oxford Fashion Week grand finale will take place in the beautiful Randolph Sculpture Gallery at the heart of the spectacular Ashmolean Museum, featuring extraordinary collections by Sabina Saga, Daniel Pascal Tanner, Hannah Sykes, Yu Universe, Nicola Bacchilega and more. The cosmopolitan show kicks off at 7pm followed by the black tie couture show at 9pm final runway show of the season is black-tie and in support of Oxfordshire Youth.

“I haven’t walked on a catwalk before but I’m excited about giving it a go,” Mary said.

So was she nervous about the Oxford casting? “I thought I’d just go for it. I knew it would be really fun to be one of the models and I think it went really well.

So is she excited about Saturday? “Excited and scared,” she smiles, ”I don’t have a lot of experience but I’m going to enjoy it.”

How will her fellow pupils react now that she’s the new Face of OFW? “I’m not going to mention it, but I think my friends will. I’m pretty ordinary really. I eat what I want, when I want, but I do a lot of exercise. I play in a lot of school teams and competed in national athletics events. I love sport."

As for the future Mary just smiled and said: “We’ll see what happens.”

Runway show tickets are now available: www.oxfordfashionweek.com