title: Valerie Askew
text: # Valerie Askew
  
  Valerie Askew (25 January 1939 – 27 August 2020) was a British modelling agent, and the co-founder (with her younger sister, Gloria) of the Askew Team modelling agency in 1966.
  
  ## Early life
  
  She was born in Epping, London on 25 January 1939, the daughter of William Askew, an opera singer turned music and drama teacher and Irene (née Molyneaux), a poet.
  
  ## Career
  
  In 1966, together with her younger sister Gloria, she founded the Askew Team modelling agency in 1966, at 22 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London. In 1973, they were the first London agency to open a branch in Milan.
  
  Their models included Sue Nadkarni, Ika Hindley, Catherine Dyer, Lorraine Chase, Michael Edwards, Sadie Frost, and Naomi Campbell.
  
  ## Personal life
  
  In 1960, she married Joe Joseph, an RAF engineer. They had five children. They divorced in 1978. She died of heart failure on 27 August 2020.
  
  