Elle Macpherson born 29 March 1963 is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record six cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s. She is also known as the founder and primary model for a series of business ventures including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and "The Body", a line of skin care products. According to Forbes, Macpherson possesses assets around £60 million. In 2010, she became the host and executive producer of Britain's Next Top Model.
Contents
* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Early life
o 1.2 Rise to fame
o 1.3 Business career
o 1.4 Acting career
+ 1.4.1 Britain's Next Top Model
o 1.5 Extortion attempt
o 1.6 Philanthropic work and animal rights
o 1.7 Personal life
* 2 Recognitions
* 3 Filmography
* 4 Further reading
* 5 References
* 6 External links
Biography
Early life
Macpherson was born Eleanor Nancy Gow, in the Killara neighborhood of Sydney, Australia, the daughter of entrepreneur and sound engineer Peter Gow, a former president of a Sydney rugby league team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Her mother Frances worked as a nurse before she married. Macpherson grew up in Killara, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, and she attended Killara High School. Macpherson is the eldest of four children including the businesswoman and environmentalist Mimi Macpherson. 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 name was changed from her father's, Gow, to her stepfather's, Macpherson.
Rise to fame
At age 17, Macpherson enrolled to study law at Sydney University. Before beginning her university studies, Elle visited the United States to spend one year doing modeling work in order to earn money to pay for her law books.
Macpherson's modelling career began in 1982 with a television commercial for Tab which established her as a "girl next door" figure in Australia. By 1986, Time magazine had already put her on the cover (with a feature entitled "The Big Elle"). By that time, she had also appeared on the covers of Elle, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Playboy.[citation needed]
Already possessing some widespread name recognition, Macpherson cemented her high profile through frequent appearances in Elle, where she appeared in every issue for six straight years. During that time, and at the age of 21, she married Gilles Bensimon, the creative director of Elle.
Eventually she gained even 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. Her popularity had reached such a level that Australian government offered her a position on its tourist commission as an unofficial ambassador.
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. In 1994, she left her agency, Ford Models, to work more lucratively for her own company, Elle Macpherson Inc. This company would serve as a financial and organizational base for her later endeavors.
MacPherson 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.
Macpherson 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 and Australia Breaking the mould of many models, Macpherson took an active role in the development and management of the company, serving as Chief Marketing Officer and later Creative Director. While nursing her second child, she spearheaded the development of a signature maternity bra line.Intimates has retained a high brand recognition into the 2000s, appearing as a featured brand on America's Next Top Model.
More recently, Macpherson created her own label of beauty products: "Elle Macpherson – The Body". She has launched or served as spokesmodel for campaigns by Boots, Invisible Zinc, Hot Tuna.
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 March 2008, Macpherson signed a three-year spokesperson deal with Revlon cosmetics. She has since been featured in print and advertising campaigns for that company; it has been announced by Macpherson herself that she would expand her underwear line by creating a new Lingerie Collection baptised 'Obsidion' which would be launched in Spring 2010.
Elle Macpherson
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Elle Macpherson