She grew up in London and was educated at the Camden School for Girl. Since being scouted 2003 at the age of 16 while shopping in North London, Donaldson has featured in campaigns for fashion houses such as Dior, Jil Sander, Burberry, Mulberry and Dolce & Gabbana. In 2005, Donaldson was nominated for the Model of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards. She has been featured on the cover of British and American Vogue, where she featured with fellow models Doutzen Kroes, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann, Sasha Pivovarova, Agyness Deyn, Coco Rocha, Hilary Rhoda, Chanel Iman, and Jessica Stam as the new crop of supermodels. Links