London, Aug. 30: Zayn Malik, who dumped his fiancée Perrie Edwards by text message a few weeks ago, has found a new love, "Burberry babe" Neelam Gill, according to feverish speculation today on social media and in tabloid newspapers.

Zayn, 22, who broke away from the boy band One Direction on March 25, is said to be "smitten" with Neelam, 20, a British Indian model who hails from Coventry in the West Midlands, according to the Daily Mail.

So, who's that girl?

Neelam has made a name for herself since being recruited last year by Burberry - a first for a model of Indian origin. Burberry is a luxury British fashion brand recognised the world over for its distinctive tartan pattern used in raincoats and scarves and for its fragrances, sunglasses, cosmetics and various accessories.

Burberry used Romeo, son of David and Victoria Beckham, last year to advertise its trench coat, when the boy was 12.

With her braided hair, Neelam sometimes affects the look of the desi girl next door but she has two advantages going for her - she is 5 feet 10 inches tall and the camera clearly loves her. She has been shot by Mario Testino who had also photographed the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Over the past 30 years, model agencies have been hunting for Asian girls. Although there is no shortage of lookers, most fail the height test. On the rare occasions they are tall, their photographs are judged not to be quite right.

Neelam was born in the UK but her grandparents were from Punjab. She used to be called Neelam Johal before and she explained the name change on Instagram: "Before people start asking why I have changed my second name from Johal to Gill, I thought it was better for me to explain. My parents divorced when I was young, and I have no contact with my biological father. The man in the picture is my 'stepdad' but in my heart he is my real Dad because he has been the one who has raised me and loved me like no other. He is truly one in a million and I've been meaning to change my last name for a long time because I'm proud to be his daughter."

But her best friend - like so many good Indian girls her age - is her mother. "My mum is my best friend and whenever I'm travelling I'll still call her countless times a day!" she said. "I'll never forget the advice she gave me just before my first job, the Burberry Spring 2014 show. She told me my life was going to change but that doesn't mean I should change as a person, and I have to remain humble, work hard, never complain and never ever forget where I came from."

As part of the Burberry family, Neelam can now consider herself to be an A-lister in the modelling world. She is signed to Models 1 in London and Wilhelmina in New York, both reputable agencies, but there was a time when she never thought she could be a model because she had braces and wore glasses.

"I'm from Coventry, but I live in London now because of work," Neelam, the eldest of three sisters, had said. "My parents were born here, but my grandparents were born in India; they're from the Punjab. When I was 13 and living at home and going to school, I used to get scouted a lot by different agencies. But there aren't really any modelling agencies in Coventry, so I didn't pay any attention to it; besides, I didn't really look like model material at that age.

"But I kept the cards I got and when I was 14, I came in to Models 1 agency with my mum and I got signed on the spot....

"The day after my exams for my A levels, I got a call from Models 1 saying Burberry had requested for me. This was three months before the spring '14 show," she revealed. "I met Elliott Smedley, who is a stylist at Burberry, and the casting director, Leila. They asked me to walk for them and I'd never walked down a catwalk before. I'd never even done a show!"

"I had these heels on, they had these crazy diamond straps and they were so, so high. My feet were wobbling and I couldn't walk," recalled Neelam, who thought she would be rejected.

But Elliott reassured her: "Don't worry, we love you. Can you wait and meet (Burberry CEO) Christopher (Bailey)?"

"Ten minutes later, Christopher came down and he was so nice, we got on straightaway," said Neelam. "He asked me about school, and I walked for him and he said to me, 'You're going to be our new Burberry girl.' But because he's so nice and it all just felt like a dream, I thought, OK, this is never going to happen, I'm not going to get my hopes up."

But her dreams came true. "I called Models 1 in the evening to see if I had any castings for the next day and they said, 'Burberry's confirmed you.' I was just like, 'What?!' And they said, 'Yeah, Burberry booked you as a global exclusive for London Fashion Week.' I was so shocked. Because it was three months in advance, I couldn't even tell anyone, it was so tough! On the day of the show I uploaded a picture of myself on Facebook and everyone was like, 'Is this for real?' .... I've literally become so close to everyone at Burberry. They're like a family."

She shared a photo on her Instagram account of the campaign for Burberry: "Honoured to be the first ever Indian model used in a #BurberryBeauty campaign. Thank you @Burberry for always believing in me and embracing diversity!"

"It was a huge deal, especially for Indians, for me to model with such a big fashion house," she added. "I was quite scared thinking about how people were going to react, but everyone's been really supportive. I get tweets and people writing on Instagram every day. Burberry just saw something in me; I'll never know what, but I am grateful."

Zayn, of course, seems to have seen more than just something in her. But for now the desi girl is being cautious about the relationship and does not wish anything to disrupt what promises to be a very successful career as an international model.

"Neelam doesn't know if she wants all of the drama that comes with dating someone in the public eye," a source told the Mail. "She is going to LA to spend some time with Zayn (where he has taken up residence while he works on his first solo album) and see how things go from there. She is serious about her career and doesn't want anything to get in the way of that but she has hit it off with Zayn. Don't expect them to be spotted out in public together though, both are eager to keep their connection a secret for now."

Zayn is of mixed parentage. He was born Zain Javadd Malik in the heart of Pakistani Bradford in January, 1993 to Yaser Malik, who comes from Pakistan, and an English mother Tricia Brannan. He became the heart-throb of millions as one of the five members of British boy band One Direction before he left the band in the middle of a tour on March 25 leaving the other four - Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne - to fend for themselves.

Zayn was seen around that time with a certain Laurel Richardson in Thailand while still being engaged to Perrie Edwards to whom he had popped the question in 2013. Since then Zayn has gone on to work with producer Naughty Boy and ended up in numerous Twitter feuds.

But he might well need to be at his best behaviour to woo Neelam. The two bumped into each other at an Asian Awards in London in April, where Zayn picked up an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, but "nothing happened as he was still with Little Mix singer Perrie". (The Asian Awards was also where Shah Rukh Khan and Zayn took a Twitter-breaking selfie.)

Neelam tweeted him afterwards saying: "Congratulations on your award tonight @zaynmalik, catch up again soon!"

They are believed to have stayed in touch as friends until after Zayn ended his romance with Perrie last month.

One thing they share is an interest in R&B. During a Q&A with Models.com in 2013, she said: "I've always loved rap and R&B. Currently I'm listening to Drake's new album ( Nothing Was The Same), Kanye's new album (Yeezus) and Jay Z's new album ( Magna Carter Holy Grail)."

Neelam knows Zayn's former bandmate Harry Styles, as the two met backstage at a Burberry show during London Fashion Week and posed for a picture together.

Her various interviews and tweets suggest she is an intelligent, well-grounded girl who may ultimately prove to be a bit too intellectual for Zayn. She has a fondness for English literature, for example, and believes in always carrying a book with her. She admits that she would probably be studying psychology in college if she hadn't found her way to the catwalk.

Neelam agrees she is "uncool" in some ways: "Reading! Since a young age I've always loved reading books and I've never grown out of it. It's a form of escapism."

Books she has read in recent months include Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Khaled Hosseini's And The Mountains Echoed.

And, according to Teen Vogue, she can whip up dishes like chicken and meat pie and roasts.

Neelam appreciates success in other Indian girls and considers herself part of "brown girl power". When Anita Rani, a BBC presenter was confirmed as a contestant for the reality show Strictly Come Dancing, Neelam tweeted: "soooo amazing that @itsanitarani is going to be on @bbcstrictly! rooting for you girl!! #representation #browngirlpower."

No surprise then that her heroines include Naomi Campbell. "She is my icon in so many ways but I love how effortless her makeup looks. I get inspiration from her red carpet makeup. She is the queen of looking glamorous but she never looks like she's trying too hard. I wish I could be like that!"