New kids on the block

The new kids on the block: (seated from left) Tom Hardy, Tim Braden and Emily Young; (standing from left) Shami Senthi, Dan Chambers, Jody Lei, Andre Garrett, Dominic McVey and Havi Mond

Acting: Tom Hardy

This 25-year-old south-west Londoner is doing pretty well for someone who, by his own admission, "fell into acting because I couldn't do anything else". Hardy, who trained under Anthony Hopkins's old teacher at the London Drama Centre, now shares an agent with Ewan McGregor.

Tonight sees him hitting the silver screen again with the London opening of Star Trek Nemesis, in which he plays supervillain Shinzon. Next up he is starring with Willem Dafoe in The Reckoning, out in February, opposite Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien) in Dot The I, and has just finished filming British thriller flick, LD 50.

The only downside that Tom is complaining about is that he doesn't get to spend much time with his wife of four years.

Fashion: Shami Senthi

After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 1999, the 30-year-old Londoner, whose parents are Malaysian, was snapped up to produce bold, funky prints for Chanel, Ungaro and Sonia Rykiel. Last year he decided it was time to go it alone.

His collection for spring/summer 2003, described as "very Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface", is full of luscious psychedelic swirls and raunchy silk dresses that drip with Seventies-style high-gloss glamour.

Senthi has already picked up celebrity followers - Alesha from Misteeq is a fan. So watch out for some A-list faces at the front row of his show at London Fashion Week in February - he's tipped to be one of the hottest tickets.

Television: Dan Chambers

All the signs are pointing to 2003 being the year that Channel Five finally manages to abandon its gaudy image and comes into its own. One of the forces shepherding in this wind of change is 33-year-old head of factual programming, Dan Chambers.

Best known for looking after Big Brother, he's one of three talented young execs poached from Channel 4 last year.

Chambers, a suave, handsome hotshot who lives in a funky bachelor pad in Kentish Town, is in the process of beefing up the channel's history and reality-TV content. His first show, Britain's Worst Driver, pulled in 3.5 million viewers - a huge success for the channel - and he has just commissioned his first big-budget six-part series, the First World War in Colour.

Food: Andre Garrett

Unlike those famously bad-tempered chefs, 30-year-old Garrett describes his management style as "fair and calm" - though he admits to giving in to the odd bout of swearing when things get really hot in the kitchen. Restaurant critic Fay Maschler says: "Andre's incredibly talented, totally committed and I think he will do extremely well."

He trained with Nico Ladenis at Chez Nico on Park Lane and Bruno Loubet before landing the prestigious 2002 Roux Scholarship, which enabled Garrett to spend three months in Paris working alongside the three-Michelin-starred-chef Guy Savoy.

Now he's head chef at Orrery in Marylebone, the Conran-owned restaurant which has a Michelin star, and was married last year.

Forget books and TV shows - Garrett's priority is his kitchen, not being the next celebrity chef.

Art: Tim Braden

The Dalston-based Braden has already held more than 20 exhibitions in London, New York and Germany - not bad for someone of 27 - and Ewan McGregor is a fan of his work. His last London show, Prospect, was held at Whitechapel's painfully trendy Neon Gallery.

After studying at the Academy of Fine Art in St Petersburg, Braden did a BA in fine art at Oxford. He's just returned from Los Angeles, where he worked on a group of paintings inspired by 1930s Hollywood film noir and architecture.

This year will see the release of his animated short film, The Sound and the Fury, in New York and Tokyo, and he's planning more exhibitions in London.

Pop: Jody Lei

In the age of mass-produced pop idols, pop rivals and pop puppets, 18-year-old Lei makes a refreshing change. She sings, dances and writes her own songs - a funky mixture of pop melodies, R'n'B beats and Northern Soul. When she walks into a room you can just feel the energy radiating off her and she's already being compared to Janet Jackson.

Lei grew up in South Africa and moved to north London with her family four years ago. Now she has just bought her own apartment in the area.

After winning a Smash Hits songwriting competition, she was signed up by Independiente, the record label that's also home to So Solid Crew and Paul Weller. Wyclef Jean asked to meet her, and they ended up collaborating on her new album (All About Lei), which is out in April.

She's just finished touring with the boy band Blue, and her sassy, energetic single, Showdown, is to be released at the end of this month.

Modelling: Havi Mond

Scouts from Select model agency first spotted Havi wandering around Covent Garden two years ago but they've had to wait until now for her to fulfil her National Service obligations in her home country, Israel (community service rather than army boots and guns), before she was put to work on the catwalk.

Although the 19-year-old still lives in Israel, she commutes between London, New York and Paris for jobs.

Her face is about to be splashed on billboards all over London as the face of the spring/summer French Connection campaign. She is also a regular on the pages of the big glossies including Vogue and Marie Claire, whose fashion editor says that she is "hard working, punctual, and never seems to get spots!"

With her luscious locks and classic beauty, it's easy to see why she's being hailed as the new Cindy Crawford.

Film: Emily Young

Young, 32, is being touted as the rising star of the British film industry. After a degree in English at Edinburgh, Young went to study film in Poland at the National Film School. Her graduating film, Second Hand, won first prize in the "cinefondation" competition at Cannes three years ago.

She was also given a six-month residency in Paris with five other talented young filmmakers, where she put the finishing touches to the script for her first feature, Helen. It stars Peter Mullan (My Name is Joe), and is due for release this autumn.

Young, who lives in Dalston, is currently working on an adaptation of Andrea Ashworth's acclaimed memoir Once in a House on Fire, which she also plans to direct.

Business: Dominic McVey

If you've ever had a near miss with one of those collapsible silver scooters that have plagued the pavements for the past couple of years, blame McVey. As a precocious 14-year-old schoolboy, he became Britain's youngest self-made millionaire after he imported the scooters from America.

Now aged 17 and with his GCSEs out of the way, McVey is concentrating on building his business empire. He's the manager of a boy band called Most Wanted, is launching a range of condoms, works on education initiatives for the Government, and acts as a consultant to a handful of companies. Business is clearly good as he's just moved into John Lennon's old flat in Montagu Square, W1.