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from Vogue.co.ukJESSICA BROWN FINDLAY may be one of the biggest stars of Downton Abbey - as well as appearing in Vogue last year - but now she has a new job modelling jewellery for Dominic Jones.
"I wanted the lookbook for this season to feel really English and almost aristocratic. I think the jewellery itself wouldn't look out of place in a museum, but at the same time carries my modern aesthetic," Jones told us. "Jess encapsulates all of these elements perfectly and is a timeless beauty."
The actress appears in a series of Gothic-looking photographs for the brands, modelling Jones' autumn/winter 2012-13 collection.
"I really enjoy using people I know and like in my lookbooks opposed to models, as it helps me believe in what I'm doing more when I can attach the collection to a person," Jones revealed. "Jess and I have been friends for a while now, we even had a brief spell living together. She's incredibly talented, beautiful, modest and fun... everything I could want from someone who represents my work."
Having previously cast Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, punk-rock drummer Alice Dellal and model Lizzie Jagger in his campaigns, Jones was introduced to Brown Findlay after sharing a flat with her ex-boyfriend. The two subsequently became close friends.
"She's a real English Rose" Jones told us. "The collection is quite aristocratic and she was a perfect fit, she has a real natural beauty and is really engaging."
Jones said his new collection was inspired by tokens and trinkets which knights brought back from the crusades for their daughters. "They almost look like museum pieces" Jones explains, "but with a modern aesthetic."
Brown Findlay originally trained as a ballet dancer and was invited to dance with the Kirov Ballet at the age of 15, but her dreams were dashed when an ankle operation left her unable to dance again. She then turned her ambitions to painting, gaining a place at Central Saint Martins to study Fine Art, and enrolled in acting classes. She got down to the last three for the lead in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and will be gracing our screens again soon in the television adaptation of Kate Mosse's book Labyrinth.
She is joined in the campaign by Mary Charteris, the model niece of heiress and haute couture collector Daphne Guinness.