The next Kate Moss

Today she premieres on the New York catwalk alongside Naomi Campbell. In two weeks she will make her debut for top designers at London Fashion Week.

But until this summer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was just a schoolgirl taking her AS levels at a comprehensive in Devon.

In a few months, the 17-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom that has prompted comparisons to Kate Moss.

The New York Post this week profiled her as a "rising teen model" and New York designer Nicole Miller has described her as "the next Kate Moss". "Rosie is fabulous, very young, and has huge potential," she said.

Kate was discovered at the age of 14 as she waited for a flight at JFK airport. Rosie was discovered when she arrived to start work experience as a booker at West End model agency Profile.

She had never considered a career in modelling herself, thinking she was too short and "not pretty enough".

"When she walked in I just thought, 'Oh my God'," said Profile booker Laura Manktelow.

"She was only 15 and had bad teenage skin but she was really, really striking. She reminded me of a young Gisele, with big features she hadn't quite grown into yet. Now she's shot up to 5ft 9in, her skin is clear and she is just gorgeous."

The agency immediately signed up Rosie, setting up a New Faces division specially for her. Her first big break came with a shoot for Teen Vogue in January.

Now she is one of the most sought-after young models with Marc Jacobs, Luella Bartley and Tommy Hilfiger among her designer fans.

"We are so proud," said her mother Fiona. "It never entered our heads that she might be a model. She was always interested in fashion but she wanted to be a stylist or a booker. She was so tiny as a girl - like a little doll. Not like the girls you see on the catwalks at all."

She added: "I wanted her to take her A-levels, but then it all suddenly started happening and we just didn't feel we could tell her, 'No, you can't pursue this'. I started off being panicky about her getting on the Tube alone in London. Then she was being whisked off to New York. But Rosie's got her head screwed on. She's very kind, not at all divaish or anything like that."

Rosie said today: "You see all the catwalk girls as amazing perfect creatures and I would never have said I was pretty enough. But I always wanted to do something with fashion and live in a big city and travel, so I just can't believe my luck. I'm loving it."

She has been so busy she has yet to find out her AS level results.

"The school sent them home in Devon and I haven't been back yet to pick them up," she explained. "I want to do it myself - there's no way I'm letting mum and dad open them without me!"