By Damon Wilkinson

Copyright manchestereveningnews

When he stepped onto the runway at London Fashion Week Callum Walker had just one thought in mind. He wished all the people who told him he would amount to nothing could have been sat in the front row. Callum, from Blackley , north Manchester, was kicked out of mainstream school at 13 amid behavioural and mental health difficulties. He was transferred to a pupil referral unit and left education aged 16 with no qualifications. But he had a passion for hairdressing. He took up an unpaid role at a friend’s salon and worked his way up before completing a training programme with haircare company Wella. Callum, now 24, then set up his own brand, Swarvella, eventually becoming the go-to stylist for travellers seeking extravagant and glamorous looks. That work helped him build-up a huge social media following which caught the eye of a fashion photographer who invited him to work at Milan and New York fashion weeks. And earlier this month his career took an unexpected twist which saw him step from behind the curtain and onto the catwalk. In an opportunity which he said ‘came out of nowhere’ fashion designers Vin+Omi spotted his Instagram profile and got in touch to ask him to model for them at London Fashion Week. The Norfolk-based pair are long-time collaborators with King Charles, using recycled materials such as garden waste and wood chippings from his Sandringham and Highgrove estates to make their clothes. And within a fortnight Callum was making his modelling debut alongside celebrities such as The Great British Bake-off’s Prue Leith and Jane Moore from Loose Women in front of an audience of 300 guests at the Art Hotel in Hoxton. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Callum said: “It was surreal. I came out from the curtain and it was just like ‘wow’. When it was done I was like ‘Did that actually just happen?’ It took me a couple of days to come round from it because it was just so overwhelming. “The company told me to just be me, be comfortable in your own skin. They didn’t want a stiff, doll-like walk, they wanted it to be very natural. And that was just so nice, it made me feel comfortable.” Callum described walking the catwalk as the ‘proudest moment of my life’ and admits the setbacks and negativity he suffered as a young teenager has driven him to succeed. He said: “I wished the people who didn’t believe in me, who said everything negative about me, could have been sitting there in the front row. Growing up I was told I was going to be nothing, that I’d end up in prison. “I had every single negative comment you can think of thrown at me, but I always knew I’d prove them wrong.” Join our Manc Life WhatsApp group HERE Callum now hopes modelling could become a full-time career. He says he’s been contacted by five modelling agencies and has set up photo shoots to put together a portfolio which he hopes will help him break into the industry. He added: “I come from a very deprived area. No-one believes in us here. But dreams can become reality if you work hard enough. If you work through your struggles there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”