Interview: Elle Macpherson

Never has a designer chosen more appropriate theme music for a runway show. Not so much for the nipped-in waists and heaving cleavage by way of '50s-inspired corseted tops, or the fact that at Louis Vuitton's autumn/winter 2010/11 show in Paris, curves were back in fashion. As the theme from Roger Vadim's 1956 film, And God Created Woman, filled the Louvre courtyard on this chilly March afternoon, all eyes fell on the heavenly body leading the final parade: with her hair scraped up and her coveted figure zipped into a strapless, voluminous gown of dusty rose-pink flocked taffeta, Elle Macpherson was back in town.



Clearly relishing his inspired idea, the label's creative director, Marc Jacobs, explained to a video crew following his every move: "Our criteria [for the casting] was, 'Who's gorgeous? Who's gorgeous and can come here and be in the show?'" Turns out Ms Macpherson, just weeks before her 47th birthday, ticked both boxes. Glowing under a constellation of popping flashbulbs, the woman born Eleanor Nancy Gow in Sydney was showing her teen-something counterparts precisely what longevity looks like.

After all, the last time Elle Macpherson strutted her stuff in Paris, Kate Moss was still at school and Amazonian supermodels ruled the runways.

"Marc just called and said, 'Would you come and do the show?'" recalls Macpherson. "I just felt it was important to do. I haven't done a show for 20 years. I'm nearly 50 and I thought...it was a brave move for him to ask somebody who wasn't 15. I felt like he was trying to make a statement and I wanted to support him with that statement. So it was a huge honour."

But even catwalk veterans get butterflies: "I was so nervous because I kept treading on the train of my dress. I was enjoying the music and scanning [the room] because I knew so many people. Everybody was smiling and waving so it was difficult to keep a straight face."

A few months later, the glamour of the catwalk has been swapped for the reality of the school run and a load of work commitments that include lingerie venture Elle Macpherson Intimates and her skincare range, The Body; spokesmodel roles with Invisible Zinc sunscreen and Revlon; and her role as executive producer/host of Britain's Next Top Model (BNTM).

As she weaves her car through busy London streets with sons Flynn, 12, and Cy, 7, in tow, Macpherson describes a schedule that would spin the head of a military tactician. "The schedule for the boys' parenting time is set for the year so we know exactly who has the boys when," she says of her ex-partner, French financier Arpad "Arki" Busson. "I then make my business and travel arrangements around the schedule. When the boys are with their dad, I can travel, work in the studio and have appointments. When I have the boys - which is the majority of the time - I just do everything like a normal working mother."

Of all the adjectives appended to Macpherson over the years, "normal" does not rank highly. Take a typical day on Planet Elle: "[I am] up at 5.30am. I get the boys up by 6. We leave the house for school by 7.30 and I am back home by 9. Then, I go to the gym if I can or go for a run, and then I start taking appointments in my office or go to work in the studio. I am back by 4pm from the school run and then the boys have homework and evening activities. They go to bed at nine and at around 9.30 I start doing office work before I go to bed. You can see now why I look forward to the weekend."

But it doesn't explain her professional juggling act. "The thing is, all of my business concerns demand that I work in different capacities at different times. For example, when I'm in front of the camera shooting Britain's Next Top Model, it's full-on. Then there are periods when I have to concentrate on Elle Macpherson Intimates: designing the collection, presenting to the buyers, coming up with the concepts for advertising campaigns."

When you've rocked the world in a bikini (including five Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue covers), co-starred with George Clooney, Barbra Streisand and the cast of Friends, and reported accumulated assets worth $95 million, what exactly does it take to spark her interest in a business project? "My heart and soul need to be excited," explains Macpherson. "There needs to be some kind of synergy between the ideals and values of my business partner and my own. I don't want to work with people I don't believe in."

Or products, which is why she is happily in cahoots with Invisible Zinc. "My relationship with Invisible Zinc is an honest one because they are products I have always used," asserts Macpherson who, ironically, lives in the minds of a generation as the ultimate bronzed goddess. "As a family, we spend a lot of time going from England to the Bahamas. The boys' skin can be sensitive because, living in the UK, they are not used to such strong sun."

But it could be said that Macpherson has built the biggest part of her empire on sorting out the world's collective dowdy undies drawer. "Women's tastes in underwear have changed so much since we launched 20 years ago," says Macpherson of the company that she set up when she couldn't find lingerie in Paris to fit her athletic body type. "For a start, women are now buying a lot more bras and actually caring about their underwear. But also, my very Australian 'handwriting' - bright colours and clashing fabrics - was a relatively new concept when we started."

It is, of course, tempting to attribute Macpherson's success in business to her looks. But to dismiss the former swim-suit model, dubbed "The Body" from the early days of her career, would be to miss the point: Macpherson has been incredibly astute. Long before she hit the use-by date of a cover girl's career (somewhere around 30), she realised there was life after modelling. And while she may have lacked, say, the high-fashion credentials that Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell had, she was the first to make a brand out of her image.

So what would she say, as a woman approaching 50, to an 18 year old who cannot think of ever being...50?

"I don't like giving advice," she insists. "I tend not to because what works for me might not work for somebody else. Anyway, half the time I don't even know what's right for me."

Really? A reluctance to counsel has not stopped her from getting involved with the show that every Elle fan and 18-year-old supermodel wannabe wants to win: Britain's Next Top Model.

"The offer to be involved actually came about a few times, but the timing was never right," she explains. "However, being able to be the executive producer as well as the host meant that I could be more involved. It meant that we could change the tone of the program and help to create a fresh perspective."

Much has been made, in fashion media circles at least, of that role and her need for the same amount of control she has over her carefully produced fashion shoots.

"Control isn't the right word; 'involved' would be a better description. I like to be involved because I find it stimulating. If I can contribute, then I like to do things from beginning to end. Even when I started out making calendars, I was involved in the styling, printing, promotion...It's more gratifying to be involved all the way. People mistake that for control issues."

Having reached the peak of the modelling game, conquered the business world and indulged a new love of television, is she keen to revisit Hollywood? "Acting is a hobby," dismisses Macpherson who, despite roles in Batman & Robin and The Mirror Has Two Faces, never managed to conquer the silver screen. "There are acting offers floating around, but the truth is I don't have time to pop over to America and shoot a film for months. Sometimes I am stretched, especially when I work with new people and projects outside my remit. But it's important to do that."

So what does Elle Macpherson Inc have time for? "Ooh, well, I am very excited about my new website, www.ellemacpherson.com. It all started when I was in the process of having my paper and print archives digitalised and wanting them all in one place. On another level, the website has sections where people can get information on, say, nutrition, behind-the-scenes footage, musings on people and places, and projects I am supporting for my friends. It’s sort of like a magazine. It’s beautiful to look at, but also very informative...And then there is the second series of BNTM."

All of which keeps Macpherson with two well-manicured feet firmly in Europe. "I always feel Australian and I take my Australian vision and perspective on life wherever I am," she stresses. "It's different for the children. They do like their Vegemite and Tim Tams - we get them sent over from family - but it's hard to see their Aussie bits when they are dressed up in their English school uniform. I guess Flynn's Australian accent is stronger than Cy's..." she muses, melting a little with talk of her children.

"You know, people ask me what's the best part of being 47, but I think that every stage of my life has brought me gifts and revelations, and this is no different from any other stage," she reflects. "There have been so many wonderful milestones - my first days as a model, hosting Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their first visit to Australia as newlyweds, closing the Olympic Games - and life lessons, and I have such an appreciation for every phase."