DENTAL nurse Lisa Ratliffe has swapped the surgery for the catwalk and taken over from Kate Moss as the new face of Calvin Klein.

A day out shopping at the Clothes Show Live exhibition in December changed Lisa's life when she was approached by Chrissie Castagnetti, co-director of one of Britain's top model agencies, Select Model Management.

Lisa, 18, of Widmer End, explained: "They took some photographs and it went from there.

"I had thought about being a model before as it's every girl's dream, but I didn't expect it to come true. I never really had any huge ambition to do anything like this."

Lisa attended Holmer Green Upper School until May 1996 when she left to become a dental nurse at the Prestwood Centre, High Street, Prestwood.

She said: "I was doing modelling part-time and working at the surgery but it got too much and I couldn't do both so I had to give up work."

So far Lisa's career has taken her to New York, Paris and Milan, where she has taken part in catwalk shows and a photographic session for Vogue.

She added: "I love doing pictures, but the catwalk is a real buzz.

"There are some lovely girls and there are the girls who look you up and down, but everyone has been great to me so far.

"I will keep my feet on the ground. I've still got my friends, they are all really happy for me. I used to get teased at school for being tall and skinny, but it's paid off."

Sarah Leon, head booker at Select, said: "Within three months she has secured the Calvin Klein advertising campaign. Lisa is the most important model England has known since Kate Moss."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.