Since breaking out as a breakout star of Love Island USA Season 7, Olandria Carthen has systematically transformed her reality-television fame into a commanding, high-fashion footprint. Hailing from Alabama, the 28-year-old style icon has spent the past year conquering global style capitals, dominating elite red carpets—including the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscars Party—and securing high-profile beauty and luxury collaborations. Her latest milestone sees her stepping into the global spotlight as the face of Pat McGrath’s blockbuster collaboration with Pandora, which officially launched on October 8.
In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Teen Vogue, Carthen reflects on her meteoric rise, an exhausting yet exhilarating global whirlwind involving Milan, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles fashion weeks, her uniquely collaborative beauty session with industry legend Pat McGrath, and her personal evolution as a newly single woman entering an exciting new artistic chapter. Navigating everything from early-morning set calls to the surprising realities of high-fashion styling and personal beauty misadventures, Carthen proves that her fierce work ethic and unmistakable aesthetic are here to stay.
Detailed Chronology: From Reality TV Star to Global Fashion Icon
The Jet-Set Grind: Conquering Fashion Month
The weeks leading up to the October 8 launch of the Pat McGrath x Pandora campaign were nothing short of a physical marathon for Carthen. Bounding across continents, she split her time between the runways of Paris and Milan Fashion Week and stateside cultural touchstones like CultureCon and the MTV Video Music Awards.
"I am exhausted," Carthen shared over the phone from a set in New York City, where she had temporarily grounded herself to helm a pop-up and meet-and-greet for her new campaign. Despite fighting a persistent cold and running on limited sleep, the star maintained an immaculate appearance—complete with flawless glam and tousled hair—demonstrating the relentless drive that defines her career trajectory. This relentless schedule serves as a prelude to a slate of top-secret projects currently in development.
Meeting "Mother Pat": A Masterclass in Collaboration
Securing the face of the Pat McGrath and Pandora collaboration marked a full-circle moment for Carthen. Less than a year prior, during an interview with Glamour, she named legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath as the person who left her most starstruck when she began following her on social media.
When the call came to anchor the Pandora campaign, Carthen didn’t hesitate. "I have never said yes faster in my life," she admitted. Meeting McGrath at the Glamour Women of the Year event initiated a professional relationship that culminated on a high-fashion set where McGrath herself handled Carthen’s glam.
Breaking away from industry norms where models are often expected to passively accept whatever look is placed upon them, Carthen found McGrath’s creative process remarkably egalitarian. When initially fitted with a striking red lip, Carthen voiced a preference to pivot: "I’m not really feeling the red lip for this. I feel like let the eye makeup be the moment."
To Carthen’s surprise, McGrath embraced the feedback, emphasizing that comfort and personal confidence are paramount to capturing authentic imagery. "This is your campaign just as well as it is mine," McGrath reportedly told her. For Carthen, this collaborative environment validated her presence on set, turning a high-stakes shoot into an empowering creative exchange.
Supporting Context & Metrics: Jewelry Nostalgia, Personal Style, and Beauty PSAs
A Lifelong Love Affair with Pandora
Carthen’s partnership with Pandora is deeply rooted in personal history rather than mere endorsement branding. Her fascination with the brand began in childhood when her mother finally relented to persistent requests for a Pandora charm bracelet as a Christmas gift.
Her initial charm—a Gemini symbol reflecting her astrological sign—was soon followed by a miniature makeup charm. True to the brand’s narrative of personal milestones, Carthen adhered to a strict rule growing up: new charms were only added to her snake-chain bracelet upon achieving significant life accomplishments, such as academic graduations.
Today, that original bracelet resides safely in a home vault in Houston, Texas, alongside international travel mementos—including a charm picked up during a birthday trip to Thailand.
The Maximalist Aesthetic and Metal-Mixing Philosophy
When it comes to accessorizing, Carthen embraces a maximalist philosophy, though she credits her styling team with reeling her in when an outfit calls for restraint. Known for experimenting with bold aesthetics, Carthen is a vocal advocate for mixing metals—a styling choice she recently debuted at the Cavalli show in Milan.
While she maintains a strong affinity for yellow gold, citing how it complements her skin tone, she is quick to balance her collection with silver accents, noting that she often wears a silver watch.
A Cautionary Tale: The Danger of Sleeping in Earrings
Among Carthen’s most colorful and candid confessions is her preference for clip-on and magnetic earrings, born out of a rather startling physical mishap. Months prior to the interview, a habit of sleeping in her stud earrings led to progressive stretching and a torn earlobe.
"My piercing started to stretch. My hole became a line, and it was being held together by a thin piece of skin," she recalled. One morning, she awoke to find an earring completely detached while the backing remained in place.
Leveraging her platform to issue an accidental public service announcement, Carthen warned her audience: "Don’t sleep in earrings, people! Unless you want to have chicken cutlets on your ear." Despite plans for corrective care, she remains a staunch convert to clip-on designs for their comfort and weightless feel.
Official Statements & Industry Perspectives
Redefining Modern "Sexy" on the Red Carpet
As Carthen navigates her post-Love Island career, her approach to personal style has undergone a sophisticated maturation. Far from bowing to pressure to alter her aesthetic for mainstream digestibility, she has leaned into her core style tenets: confidence, empowerment, and unapologetic sensuality.
This philosophy was epitomized by her viral appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscars party, where she wore an asymmetric white dress featuring deep cutouts and an exposed back.
"I’m happy that I’m starting to make that a part of my brand. I didn’t have to change my aesthetic, who I was, or how I dress in order to be more digestible," Carthen explained. Whether wearing a formfitting silhouette with zero skin exposed or a dramatic cut-out gown, she views style not as a static set of rules, but as an evolving expression of personal power.
Embracing Y2K Nostalgia
While open-minded about nearly every fashion trend, Carthen draws a firm line in her long-term devotion to Y2K aesthetics, specifically low-rise bottoms. From low-rise denim and gauchos to capri pants, she refuses to abandon early-2000s silhouettes.
Offering styling advice for the colder months, she suggested pairing ultra-low-rise bootcut jeans with a fitted, subtly cropped sweater that allows a sliver of skin to show above the waistband, completed with statement boots, a trench coat, and protective outerwear.
Future Outlook: Acting Ambitions, Literacy Advocacy, and the Next Era
Stepping Into the Acting World
Carthen views her recent high-fashion milestones—symbolized memorably by her much-discussed orange Tom Ford dress—not as a "revenge look," but as the foundational architecture of an entirely new era. Beyond the runways and editorial spreads, her professional horizon is expanding into dramatic arts.
"I am starting to take more acting classes because I want to be an actress. I’m starting to take that more seriously," she revealed. With several major, unannounced projects slated to debut over the coming year, Carthen is actively positioning herself for longevity across multiple entertainment verticals.
Cultural Literacy and Media Recommendations
Amid her punishing travel and production schedule, Carthen has also used her social media platforms to address broader cultural issues, including the contemporary literacy crisis. When asked for media recommendations, she directed fans toward classic television, expressing excitement to finally binge-watch the iconic series A Different World on Netflix.
In literature, her tastes have evolved from dark, nonfiction memoirs of her youth—such as Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called "It"—toward immersive fiction rich in fantasy elements like fairies and dragons. With a stack of books waiting for her back in Houston, she hinted at a potential future book club for her digital community.
As the Pat McGrath x Pandora campaign rolls out worldwide, Olandria Carthen stands at the intersection of beauty, luxury, and digital influence—proving that her transition from reality television royalty to an enduring cultural fixture has only just begun.
