Every season, one new model makes everyone feel like they want to drop their espresso backstage and gasp. Sometimes, they're so gorgeous, you can't breathe. (Witness: Joan Smalls, Aya Jones, Gemma Ward.) Sometimes, they just seem crazy cool. (Irina Lazareanu and Agyness Deyn, we're talking about you.) And sometimes, like this season's breakout star Ruth Bell, it's that almost impossible combo.

You probably know the basics: She's 19, she's English, she has a buzz cut and a twin sister, May Bell, who's also a model. She was a showstopper at Saint Laurent last night, and she's also walked for Isabel Marant and Gucci. But beyond that, what's her deal? We stopped her backstage at a show to find out. 

Hi. Can we interview you for ELLE?

You can try, but I have to warn you, I'm terrible at interviews.

That's okay. We can start easy. What's your name?

My name is Ruth Bell.

What's your middle name?

Alexandra, which I'm not crazy about. But 'Ruth' really is awful. I feel as though my mom aged me as soon as I was born. 

What name do you wish you had?

My sister's name! I really like the name May. I think that's really nice. It really annoys me that she has a nice name and I have a horrible name. And she hates my name also! Everyone hates my name.

You could have picked a new "modeling" name if you wanted?

It's too much effort. It's like, ehh.

And where are you from?

I'm from Kent, just South of London... I'm really from Dover. It's the worst part of Kent! We're very proud.

Growing up, were you into fashion?

Not really. Being a twin, my mom made a point to make us look as different as possible. She didn't even do that thing where some moms put the twins in the same outfit but in different colors? She hated that, so she put one of us in a dress and one of us in trousers and a top. As we grew, I always wanted to dress like May, but she never wanted to dress like me. She's really girly. I'm a tomboy. I prefer jeans. I never wanted to wear dresses. And now, I'm still a jeans and t-shirt person.

Do you still live with your sister?

Yeah, I still live with her—and my parents. I'm a sponger. I can't afford to live in London on my own. 

You're being a little hard on yourself.

I'm 19! I should have moved out of my parents' house like two years ago. 

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Hellin Kay
Ruth and May Bell for Topshop

Did you start modeling so you could buy your own place?

Modeling was nothing May or I really thought about until we got scouted. We were on holiday in Paris, actually. This random dude came up to us. It turned out he was a model scout, but at the time, we thought he was a really creepy guy. He told us we should be models and gave us his card. We literally ran away from him. We thought he was trying to creep on us. Then literally a year later, I found the card, and I Googled his name just for the hell of it. Well, it turned out he was from this really big agency! He was totally legit! And we'd pretty much ignored him in Paris, because we were like, 'You're a strange man who's talking to us and we're 15. Go away.' 

How'd you get back in touch?

Oh, we emailed him. We said, 'Hi, remember us?' And that's how it started.

 In the beginning, you were labeled as "The Bell Twins."

Because my first job was with my sister. When we were 16, we worked for i-D Magazine, and then the day after that, the photographer used us for Topshop. That was our first job…and then it got really quiet. We were still in school, we didn't know if we wanted to do it.

Do you still want to do it now?

I do! Definitely. My sister still models sometimes, but she makes time to do other things.  I've been more non-stop about it.

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Hellin Kay

Everyone's talking about your haircut. But how did it actually happen?

A few months ago, I was out to dinner with May and I got a call from my agency. They said, 'You're confirmed for the McQueen campaign.' I said, 'Omigod, this is the best thing ever!' They said, 'Wait, wait, wait, you need to know the full story—they want you to have a haircut.' I was like, 'So? Take a couple inches off. Why are you being so dramatic? You want me to have [bangs] or something? It's okay.'  My hair was down to my waist, almost, and my agent just got really silent on the other end of the phone, and was finally like, 'Well, uh, they want you to shave your head.' 

That must have been a shock.

I reacted with silence. And they were like, 'Oh, you have to decide by tomorrow.'  But even before I hung up the phone, I was like, 'I've got to do this.' It was David Sims. It was McQueen. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to do, so I knew I was going to do it.

Did you do it yourself, like Robin Tunney in Empire Records?

I wish! They wanted to cut it themselves on set! I got there at 9 a.m. By 9:30 it had been shaved all off. 

Was shaving it off an emotional experience? 

Not for me! My agent came with me and she cried. I was laughing at her. It was more emotional for the people around me. But I don't care. I was like, 'Let's do this.'

Are you growing it back?

Hell no. I don't miss the hair. I don't want it ever again. This is so much better. The only thing is, they keep making me turn up very early for shows with all the other models and I'm like, 'Guys, you're spending two hours doing everyone's hair. I have no hair. Can I go back to bed please?' 

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Hellin Kay
Ruth Bell at Isabel Marant

Did you expect your haircut to change your career, basically overnight?

The opposite. I thought it might make things slower. I thought I'd shave my head for McQueen, and it would be a really cool thing that I could say I did once.  And that would be it. I didn't expect it to make me a bigger model. Now, it feels like I have this great responsibility on my shoulders.

How so?

Well, if I go out there and trip on the catwalk, there's more people who know who I am, you know how I mean? I feel like, my agents have worked really hard to help build the hype, the designers have worked so hard on the clothes. Every show, I'm texting my agent saying, 'This is gonna be the one where I fall.'

You seem really anxious about this.

I am. I don't know why. But I keep thinking about how Naomi Campbell fell on the catwalk and got really famous for it, because she crawled down the catwalk afterwards. So I'm always trying to think, okay, if I fell, what would I do? Would I somersault to the end of the runway? Then I'll just jump up, like 'ta-da!'

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Hellin Kay
Ruth Bell in yesterday\'s Saint Laurent show

Hedi Slimane shot you himself for the new Saint Laurent ads. What was that like?

It was insane... I heard terrible stories when I told people [about the campaign], like, 'He's so scary,' or, 'You'll see, he never laughs.' It just wasn't true. He laughed the whole time! I get along really well with him, and I like seeing how he works…I've never seen that with a photographer before and I've been working for like three years.

How does he work?

He does this thing where he—I don't know how to explain it! He knows exactly what it will look like before he shoots it. Some photographers have to try out different things. He just knows. Like, for example, he puts you in an outfit. Some people take time to look at it. Not him. As soon as you have the outfit on, he knows if it works. As soon as he takes the photo, he knows that's the photo. He prints out the photos and sticks them up on the wall, and he'll spend his lunch looking at all the photos to see what we can do better. I sat there like, 'I like all my outfits! I like all my photos.' And he's like, 'No.'

And now that campaign is all over Paris—and the Internet! Has that made you famous?

Famous? No. But it's weird when someone takes a photo of you. Not a photographer but a normal person. If someone in the industry knows me, I understand, because it's a small industry and once you've met someone, or even know someone who knows someone, it's normal to start talking to them if you see them. But like Joe Public, who doesn't know anything about the fashion industry, posting a photo of me saying Woman Crush Wednesday or whatever—it's like, 'Wow, I didn't know it's gotten this big.' It's a confidence boost, I guess? But it's very weird to be called a 'crush.' I think it's hard to like someone until you hear them talk.

What do you do backstage while everyone else is getting their hair done? Are you reading anything good?

I'm reading The Da Vinci Code. I've read it four times. I think it's the greatest book. I don't even like fiction, but I watched the film and I was so confused. So I got to the book, and I loved it. And it's the book of Paris, don't you think? So I have to re-read it while I'm here!

Have you thought at all about what happens next for you?

This consumes my life. I'm so busy. When people ask, 'what are your hobbies?' I'm like, 'I don't have hobbies.' I thought I'd make a bit of money in between [high school and college], maybe a few small jobs. I didn't think it would become this, and now that it has, I haven't even had time to think about the future. I'm a bit scared of what to do after. I'll probably sponge off my parents a couple more years and then go get a normal job.

You can't get a normal job! You have to join a rock band or something.

No, I am really untalented when it comes to instruments. But right now, I'm obsessed with Courtney Love. I think she's the coolest person ever. I don't even know why. I just think she's so good at looking a mess, but I think she tries to look a mess. If I turned out like that, without the drugs bit, but the coolness? I would be excited. I want her vibe. I want her to be my best friend. Again, really without the drugs bit. 

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Hellin Kay
Ruth Bell\'s modeling card, pre-haircut