Beaming and waving to an audience of thousands in the grounds of the Eiffel Tower, Cara Delevingne looked the epitome Hollywood glamour as she graced the L’Oréal catwalk during Paris Fashion Week on Monday. 

Dazzling in a daring Georges Chakra couture sheer lace gown it was a triumphant return to form for the model, 33, who looked equally fresh-faced and polished at the Stella McCartney show, the following evening.

Her flawless and dewy makeup and soft tousled hair was a departure from the more grungy look that Cara became famous for earlier in her career when she earned herself a reputation as the ultimate ‘it girl’ on the London party scene.

But while fans who fell in love with Cara’s original indie girl look and famously bushy eyebrows, will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief to see her looking healthy and happy after struggles with drug and alcohol abuse that first emerged in her teens.  

In 2022, the model checked into rehab after images of her behaving erratically at Van Nuys Airport emerged. Her sunken-eyed appearance sparked concern, as she wandered around in dirty socks and no shoes before smoking on a pipe on some kind in her car. 

Cara was scouted as a model in 2009 aged 17 by Storm founder Sarah Doukas, who famously discovered Kate Moss. 

Cara Delevingne has had quite the transformed from the ultimate London party girl to an in-demand Hollywood model after her wild indie girl days

Beaming and waving to an audience of thousands in the grounds of the Eiffel Tower, Cara looked the epitome Hollywood glamour as she graced the coveted PFW L’Oréal catwalk on Monday

But turn back the years to the very start of her early career and things were a different story – with the then breakthrough fashion star earning herself a reputation as the ultimate ‘it girl’ on the London party scene

She originally wanted to be an actress, but after struggling to land roles, she turned to modeling. She was signed by Storm Management, but didn’t get her first paying job until nearly two years later.

She was eventually scouted by Burberry designer Christopher Bailey in 2011, while she was working part time in the office of a fashion website, who asked her to model for one of the brand’s campaigns.

The Burberry shoot launched Cara into stardom, and she soon landed jobs with huge brands like Chanel, Rag & Bone, Tory Burch, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Carolina Herrera, Fendi, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, and Victoria’s Secret, often adding her signature cool and grungy look to outings. 

Fast-forward to 2025 and Cara looks every inch the polished Hollywood star with a perfect glamorous look.

She kicked the year off with an incredible look at the Golden Globes, dazzling in a sleek blue gown and flaunting her striking features. 

However even just a few years ago she found herself in a tough place after relapsing in her sobriety journey.

She revealed she checked herself into rehab after ‘heartbreaking’ images published by DailyMail gave her a wakeup call. 

The model said at the time that she reflected on her mental health struggles and addiction battle after sparking concern with a series of troubled public appearances. 

Speaking to Vogue magazine, she confessed that she hadn’t been ‘ready’ to tackle her demons until she fell into a ‘bad place’.  

She explained: ‘I’ve had interventions of a sort, but I wasn’t ready. That’s the problem. 

‘I hadn’t seen a therapist in three years. I just kind of pushed everyone away, which made me realize how much I was in a bad place.’

In 2022 she revealed she checked into rehab after ‘heartbreaking’ images of her behaving erratically at an airport emerged 

On Tuesday night she looked fresh-faced and polished for the star-studded Stella McCartney show, opting for a flawless and dewy makeup look and soft tousled hair

Disturbing images showed her appearing jittery and anxious outside Van Nuys Airport while she wandered around in dirty socks and no shoes.  

Cara continued: ‘I always thought that the work needs to be done when the times are bad, but actually the work needs to be done when they’re good. 

‘The work needs to be done consistently. It’s never going to be fixed or fully healed but I’m okay with that, and that’s the difference.’ 

Her wellbeing had been at the forefront of her friends and family’s concern that year after she was pictured behaving erratically on various occasions. 

After her rebab stint she has got her life back on track, with her career ascending to new heights in the last two years with new fashion campaigns and a host of glamorous red carpet appearances. 

But Cara – who has walked the runway for Chanel and starred in campaigns for Burberry among many others – has previously revealed she didn’t always have confidence in her looks and worried her unique features would hinder her career in the fashion industry.

She said: ‘I never thought people would actually want me to be a model. I was a very weird gremlin, awkward-looking child.’

While sporting stunning designer gowns is now all in a day’s work for Cara, the blonde beauty hasn’t always been interested in putting on pretty dresses and confessed to being a ‘big tomboy’ in her younger years.

She told The Sun newspaper: ‘I was a feral kid, a big tomboy. Beauty wasn’t important at all and it still isn’t in a way.’

As a teenager, Cara’s looks blossomed but she would instead attract attention to herself as the clown of the group.

She told Vogue last June: ‘I had to be doing things with people at all times.

Seen with pals Clara Paget and Jaime Winstone partying up a storm in 2012 

‘The life of the party is an easy part for me to play. It rots your insides, though.’

After a difficult childhood due to her mother Pandora’s drug addiction issues, Cara previously revealed that she developed severe anxiety and depression at age 15, which resulted in her participating in self harm.

‘All of a sudden I was hit with a massive wave of depression and anxiety and self-hatred, where the feelings were so painful that I would slam my head against a tree to try to knock myself out,’ she said to Vogue.

‘I never cut [myself], but I’d scratch myself to the point of bleeding. I just wanted to dematerialize and have someone sweep me away.’

In her later teen years, Cara was put on what Vogue described as a ‘cocktail of psychotropics’ and she began smoking pot, but she stated that she was ‘completely mental with or without drugs.’

‘I couldn’t wake up in the morning,’ she admitted. ‘The worst thing was that I knew I was a lucky girl, and the fact that you would rather be dead… You just feel so guilty for those feelings It’s this vicious circle. Like, how dare I feel that way? So you just attack yourself some more.’

Cara eventually dropped out of school, but was determined to prove that she ‘wasn’t a deadbeat’ despite fears that she would ‘never amount to anything.’

She originally wanted to be an actress, but after struggling to land roles, she turned to modeling. 

During the height of her fame, Cara admitted that she still struggled with mental illness, telling Vogue that her depression would come and go.

‘It’s like, if anything is good for too long, I prefer to ruin it,’ she said. ‘I had to be doing things with people at all times. The life of the party is an easy part for me to play. It rots your insides, though.’

Cara wasn’t discovered until her late teens, when she was spotted in 2009 aged 17 by Storm founder Sarah Doukas, who famously discovered Kate Moss (seen in 2011)

While rumors circulated on more than one occasion that she was doing drugs – photographers caught her holding a small zip lock bag of a mysterious white substance in 2013 – she insisted that it never got out of control for her.

‘Honestly, I don’t think I did anything different from other people my age,’ she said. ‘But I definitely have that addict gene.

‘For me, it comes out in an addiction to work. I’d probably have done more drugs back then if I hadn’t been working like mad.’

As well as her modeling career, Cara also dove into the acting industry and has graced the big screen numerous times, racked up a slew of celebrity gal pals including Taylor Swift, designed her own collection of handbags with Mulberry, released a novel, and launched her own champagne brand with her sisters.