Spotlight: Mary HD

Mary Habiba Davidson, better known as Mary HD, graced catwalks and the pages of fashion magazines like Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan.

An interesting mix of Scottish, Somalian and Arabic heritage, Mary was size six at the height of her modelling career and weighed only seven and a half stone. She turned her back on the industry after being shunned for eating Jaffa Cakes on photo shoots and for refusing to strip off for a music video.

Mary HD

She says: ‘I started modelling when I was 15. I wanted to make something of myself and there is pressure in the modelling industry to be very thin and bare a lot of flesh. I wanted to be a more positive role model to young girls, and after everything that I had been through, I knew the time was right to walk away.’

Mary HD

Mary set up her own company, Mary HD Entertainment Ltd, and was nominated for the ‘Business Personality of the Year’ in 2009. It is a mean stereotype that models aren’t particularly clever, but our previous post on models like Iman and Tyra shows there are many who are extremely business minded and very rich as a result!

Alongside her business interests Mary is an active volunteer for British Red Cross, Amnesty International, Women Speak Out, Challenge Mulanje and The Prince's Trust.

Mary’s other passion is music and she has worked with Fred Jerkins of Darkchild Entertainment (Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson) and has performed in Europe with Uniting Nations and Nathan from Boys2Men. She will release her debut album 'Beautifully Unexpected’ later this year.

www.maryhd.com