She’s one of the fashion world’s most visible faces. As likely to be seen between the pages of Vogue as she is on the runway for Burberry and Calvin Klein, English-born Jourdan Dunn is at the top of game as an in-demand model. But who knew that Dunn is also a second-generation Jamaican? That’s right, her mum Dee is from The Rock!

It makes Dunn, who fashion insiders deem the heir apparent to Naomi Campbell (herself English and of Jamaican roots), one of today’s reigning black supermodels.

Spotted by a model scout in a Primark department store in her native England at age 15, Dunn’s rise in the modelling world has been nothing short of meteoric. Voted the British Fashion Council’s Model of the Year in 2008, at 18, she became the first black model to appear on the runway for Prada. It’s a noteworthy trend she continues to buck as the current fashion season has seen her as sometimes the only woman of colour among all-white model designer showcases. The stunning, leggy beauty is mum to three-year-old son Riley, who was born with sickle cell anaemia, a non-contagious blood disorder common in people of Afro-Caribbean or African descent. “It’s something people don’t really know about, due to the fact it’s genetic, so it doesn’t have the high profile of HIV or malaria,” Dunn, a supporter of England’s Sickle Cell Society told the Sunday Times style mag recently.

Currently appearing in Banana Republic’s fall/winter advertising campaign alongside male model Noah Mills, Dunn is also a go-to face for Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent and John Galliano campaigns, too. Though her accent might not have an island lilt, Dunn’s black-green-and-gold ties are reason enough for us to beam with pride as her ascent continues.