Elle Macpherson (born 29 March, either 1963 or 1964) is an
Australian businesswoman, television host, model, and actress. She is
well known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
beginning in the 1980s, leading to her nickname "The Body". She is also
known as the founder primary model and creative director for a series
of business ventures, including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and The Body, a line of skin care products. In 2010, she became the host and executive producer of Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model. She is currently an executive producer of NBC's Fashion Star and was the host for the first season.
Macpherson was born Eleanor Nancy Gow in Killara, New South Wales, the daughter of entrepreneur and sound engineer Peter Gow, a former president of a Sydney rugby league team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, and Frances Gow, a nurse.[2]
Macpherson's parents divorced when she was 10 years old, and she moved
with her mother and two siblings. Her mother later remarried, and a
clerical mistake in registering at her new school meant that her surname
was changed from Gow to Macpherson (her stepfather's surname).[3][4]
Macpherson grew up in East Lindfield, a suburb in the affluent North Shore of Sydney, and attended Killara High School, completing her Higher School Certificate in 1981. She briefly studied law for one year at the University of Sydney. Macpherson has a sister, businesswoman and environmentalist Mimi Macpherson, also known as Miriam Frances Gow.[5]
Career
Rise to fame as model
Macpherson enrolled to study law at Sydney University.
Before beginning her university studies, she visited the United States
to spend one year doing modelling work in order to earn money to pay for
her law books.[6]
She traveled to New York City, where she initially signed up with Click
Model Management. Her modeling career began in 1982 with a television
commercial for Tab which established her as a "girl next door" figure in Australia.[7]
In 1986, Time magazine
had already put her on the cover (with a feature entitled "The Big
Elle") but by that time, she had also appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, GQ, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.[8] She cemented her high profile through frequent appearances in Elle, where she appeared in every issue for six straight years. During that time, at the age of 21, she married Gilles Bensimon, the creative director of Elle.[9]
 Macpherson's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover, 10 February 1986 |
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| Macpherson's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover from 9 February 1987 |
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| Macpherson's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover from 15 February 1988 |
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| Macpherson's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover from 14 February 1994 |
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| Macpherson's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover from 17 February 2006 |
External images
Eventually she garnered more exposure through Sports Illustrated magazine's annual Swimsuit Issue. She appeared on the cover a record five times: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, and 2006. Along with Naomi Campbell, she co-hosted the Miss Universe 2001
pageant. Her popularity had reached such a level that Australian
government offered her a position on its tourist commission as an
unofficial ambassador.[10]
After appearing nude in the 1994 film Sirens,
Macpherson learned that the media had begun searching for nude photos
of her, including contacting her ex-boyfriends. To address this,
Macpherson appeared in a nude pictorial in the May 1994 issue of Playboy magazine, in order to produce nude photos "on her own terms".[11] Macpherson returned to the runway in 2010 to close the fall Louis Vuitton show for Marc Jacobs in Paris.[12]
Business career
Macpherson in September 2008 at Fashion Fest
In the 1980s, together with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, Naomi Campbell, Pavlína Pořízková, and Cindy Crawford, Macpherson became part of the new generation of supermodels.[13] In 1989 she was given the nickname Elle "The Body" Macpherson by Time Magazine after she appeared on their cover. She went on to use the name in a number of business ventures.[14]
In 1994, she left her agency, Ford Models, to form her own company, Elle Macpherson Inc., which would serve as the financial organizational base for her later endeavours.[13]
She soon went on to produce her own highly popular series of calendars,
each of which was accompanied by a "making of" television program in
1992, 1993, and 1994. She used this success as a springboard to create
the "Your Personal Best – The Body" series of workout videos.[13]
She later diversified her portfolio of businesses, and in 1990
launched her lingerie collection 'Elle Macpherson Intimates' in
partnership with Bendon Limited Apparel. Intimates met with remarkable international success, becoming the single best-selling lingerie line in both Great Britain[15] and Australia[16]
The partnership was among the first instances of a crossover between a
model and a fashion label. In 1989, when she was first approached by
Bendon to promote their lingerie in Australia, Macpherson saw an
opportunity to reverse their strategy and suggested a licensing
arrangement, with products bearing her name and designs created in
partnership with Bendon's team. Though commonplace now, the idea was
unorthodox at the time.[17]
Macpherson took a leading role in the development and management of the company, serving as Chief Marketing Officer and later Creative Director. In January 2010, Macpherson expanded the line, launching Obsidian as a sub-brand.[18] While nursing her second child, she spearheaded the development of a signature maternity bra line.[19] Intimates has retained a high brand recognition into the 2000s, appearing as a featured brand on America's Next Top Model; last year, the brand celebrated 10 years of being stocked at Selfridges.
Macpherson has also created her own line of beauty products: "Elle Macpherson – The Body". The line was carried at Boots,[20] and Australian suncare brand Invisible Zinc.[21]
In addition to her executive responsibilities at Elle Macpherson
Intimates and The Body, Macpherson spent a year on the Board of
Directors at Hot Tuna, advising on product development, brand positioning and sales strategy.[22] In March 2008, she signed a three-year deal with Revlon Cosmetics, which named her a Global Brand Ambassador.[23] She has since been featured in print and advertising campaigns for the company.
In 2007, the BBC TV series The Money Programme
aired a documentary which followed Macpherson through her day-to-day
business as she continued to develop her international lingerie
business. In 2009 Macpherson delivered the Keynote Address at the annual
meeting of the International Trademark Association.[24]
Awards
Macpherson has received a number of awards recognizing her business
acumen and the success of Elle Macpherson Intimates. In 2005, she was
named Glamour Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year;[25] in 2007, she received an Everywoman Ambassador Award recognizing her success as a businesswoman;[26]
in 2008, the Underfashion Club's Femmy Awards crowned her Lingerie
Designer of the Year; in 2009, she received a World Career Award from
the Women's World Awards.
Acting career
Macpherson (centre) modeling for Virgin Australia in October 2011
Macpherson made her movie debut playing an artist's model in the 1994 Sirens, which starred Hugh Grant, Sam Neill, and Tara FitzGerald. After Sirens, she followed with a two-year series of acting roles, appearing in films such as Woody Allen’s Alice, Batman & Robin alongside George Clooney, The Edge with Anthony Hopkins, and The Mirror Has Two Faces with Barbra Streisand. In 1996 Macpherson hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.[27]
In 1999, Macpherson appeared in five episodes of the American TV series Friends as Joey Tribbiani's roommate and eventual girlfriend, Janine Lecroix. Macpherson went on to act in the movie Jane Eyre with William Hurt, and she has also appeared alongside Ben Stiller and Sarah Jessica Parker in If Lucy Fell. Her most controversial acting role was in the Showtime cable network miniseries, A Girl Thing, in which she plays a woman experimenting with bisexuality along with Kate Capshaw. In 2001, she appeared in the Italian movie South Kensington.
Macpherson played agent Claudia Foster in The CW Network's drama series, The Beautiful Life, appearing with Mischa Barton, Sara Paxton and Corbin Bleu.
The show centred on aspiring models working for a modeling agency,
trying to make it big in New York City and in the fashion world.[28] In March 2011, Macpherson starred with Gary Lineker in an advertisement for Walkers Crinkles.[29]
Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model
In July 2010, Macpherson became the new host of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, taking over from Lisa Snowdon. She also serves as executive producer on the show. The revamped show's panelists now include OBE-winning fashion designer Julien Macdonald, designer Whitney Port and male model Tyson Beckford.[30]
Fashion Star
Macpherson hosts and executive produces NBC's reality competition series Fashion Star. The series gives 14 unknown designers, mentored by celebrities such as Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie, and John Varvatos, the chance to launch their collections in three of America's largest clothing retailers, including Macy's, H&M, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Its first season was sold to 75 countries.[31]
Extortion attempt
According to a police statement reproduced online, between 11 and 22
July 1997 William Ryan Holt and Michael Mischler broke into Macpherson's
Los Angeles house while she was away on business in Chicago.[32]
They stole an estimated $100,000 worth of jewelry, $6,000 in cash, and
several photographs. The two were arrested on 4 August 1997. Mischler,
29, pled guilty to one count of attempted extortion and one count of
burglary. He received a six-year and eight-month prison sentence. Holt,
26, a former U.S. Air Force
enlisted man and a military-justice convict out on parole, pled guilty
to one count of extortion, and he was sentenced to one year in prison.[33]
Philanthropic work
Macpherson is a European Ambassador for RED, an initiative set up by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise money and awareness for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria[34] and to help eradicate AIDS for women and children in Africa. She is also an ambassador for UNICEF.[35]
In her native Australia, she is an ambassador for the Smile Foundation, which helps the families of children with rare diseases and organises government research grants.[3][4] She has also modelled for charitable causes including fundraising for 2007 British flood victims,[36] and child welfare group Absolute Return for Kids.[37] In 2012, Macpherson led Sky's campaign for International Women's Day.[38] MacPherson is a patron for the National Association for the Children Of Alcoholics (NACOA).[39]
Personal life
Macpherson met French fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon in 1984 on a photo session for Elle magazine. They wed in May 1986, and divorced three years later.[40][41]
Macpherson began a relationship with London-based French financier Arpad Busson in 1996.[42] They have two sons together: Arpad Flynn Busson, known as Flynn (born February 1998 in New York City),[43] and Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson (born February 2003 in London).[44] The family lived together in London until Busson and Macpherson's separation in July 2005.[42]
Macpherson subsequently began dating Miami-based hotel heir and billionaire Jeffrey Soffer in early 2009.[45] They broke up in March 2012,[46] but reconciled following his injury in a helicopter accident in November 2012.[46] They became engaged in March 2013,[46] and married in July 2013 at the Laucala Resort in Fiji.[47][48]
After living for many years in the UK,[49] it was reported that Macpherson is now also living in Florida, United States following her marriage to Soffer.[50] Besides English, she speaks fluent French and is conversational in Italian and Spanish.[19]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Alice | Model | |
| 1994 | Sirens | Sheela | |
| 1996 | If Lucy Fell | Jane Lindquist | |
| 1996 | Jane Eyre | Blanche Ingram | |
| 1996 | The Mirror Has Two Faces | Candice | |
| 1997 | Batman & Robin | Julie Madison | |
| 1997 | The Edge | Mickey Morse | |
| 1998 | With Friends Like These... | Samantha Mastandrea | |
| 2001 | A Girl Thing | Lauren Travis | TV film |
| 2001 | South Kensington | Camilla |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Saturday Night Live | Herself | "Elle Macpherson/Sting" (season 21: episode 14) "John Goodman/Everclear" (season 21: episode 15) |
| 1999–2000 | Friends | Janine LaCroix | "The One Where Phoebe Runs" (season 6: episode 7) "The One with Ross' Teeth" (season 6: episode 8) "The One Where Ross Got High" (season 6: episode 9) "The One with the Routine" (season 6: episode 10) "The One with the Apothecary Table" (season 6: episode 11) |
| 2008 | America's Next Top Model | Herself | "Top Model Makeovers" (cycle 10: episode 3) |
| 2009 | The Beautiful Life: TBL | Claudia Foster | Main role; series canceled after 2 episodes |
| 2010–present | Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model | Herself | Host; reality TV series |
| 2012–present | Fashion Star | Herself | Host; reality TV series |
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