The 80s and 90s were the era of supermodels. Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer were queens of the catwalks and magazine covers. But only one was nicknamed “The Body” because of her dream measurements: Elle Macpherson. The Australian will turn 60 on March 29th. And when she recently appeared on a catwalk in Melbourne for the first time in 14 years, it seemed as if she had outwitted time. The media spoke of a “stunning return”.
Before her appearance at the Melbourne Fashion Festival, Macpherson, who was born near Sydney in 1964, last walked for Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2010. Before that, she presented fashion for the who’s who of the scene for more than three decades, from Christian Dior to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein to John Galliano, Michael Kors and Valentino. At the same time, she was regularly photographed for the covers of prestigious magazines, including “Harper’s Bazaar”, “Marie Claire”, “Vogue” and “Cosmopolitan” as well as most frequently – and fittingly with her name – “Elle”.
She has been the face and body of the swimsuit issue of fitness magazine Sports Illustrated a record five times since 1986. In 1989, Time Magazine finally dedicated the cover story to her under the headline “The Big Elle” – and in the article declared her Elle “The Body” Macpherson for the first time.
She finally joined the ranks of the world‘s best-known and highest-paid top models when Frank DeCaro included her in the New York Times in 1996 in his list of ” “magnificent seven”. The author mused: “Known by their first names to legions of fans, they are the supermodel legends of the modern catwalk. Girls next door who are pretty beneath all the color.” Now Macpherson is the first of the “Magnificent Seven” to celebrate her 60th birthday – although Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista will follow in a few years.
Things didn’t always go so well in her private life: Macpherson has been divorced twice and separated from the father of her two sons Flynn (26) and Cy (21), to whom she was not married, in 2005.
After high school, she briefly studied law at the University of Sydney, but in the meantime traveled to the USA, where she signed her first modeling contract. Later she was also successful as an actress. Among other things, she appeared repeatedly in the hit series “Friends” at the end of the 90s as the adored roommate Janine LaCroix. She also took on smaller film roles, for example in Franco Zeffirelli’s romantic drama “Jane Eyre”. She presented “Britain’s Next Top Model” from 2010 to 2013, and last year Macpherson appeared as a guest judge on Heidi Klum’s “Germany’s Next Top Model.”
But the days when covers and catwalks dominated her life are long gone. Today, Macpherson is primarily a successful entrepreneur with her wellness brand “WelleCo,” which specializes primarily in nutritional supplements. She also pays close attention to a healthy diet in her private life, hasn’t drunk alcohol for years, does yoga and meditates, as she told Harper’s Bazaar magazine in January. Today it’s less about how she looks and more about how she feels.
“I’ve spent many years caring about my physical appearance as The Body and really living up to other people’s expectations of me,” she said in an interview with Australia’s Body and Soul magazine in November. Her life is much more fulfilling today, when she focuses primarily on her inner well-being. “I just love that feeling of vitality, and I’m grateful for my life, I’m grateful for my journey, and I love turning 60.” She sees her job as helping other women to be able to enjoy their lives to the fullest.
She wants to publish a book soon, as she revealed “Body and Soul”. She left it open whether it was an autobiography, a memoir about her modeling days or a health guide. “If the models of the ’80s and ’90s were icons, the women they grew into are far more nuanced,” the magazine wrote aptly.
Is she still in touch with her former supermodel colleagues? “Claudia (Schiffer) and I had our children in the same school in London so we saw each other every day, Cindy (Crawford) and I have a lot of mutual friends and Naomi (Campbell) and I have worked together on and off over the years,” Macpherson said. “So yes, we’re still connected, and that’s wonderful.”