Elle Macpherson posed for a family photo shoot—for Vogue . The supermodel finally said “yes” to posing with her sons, Flynn, 21, and Cy, 16, after years of turning down offers to doing a professional photo spread with her family. Macpherson and her sons appear on the August 2019 cover of Vogue Australia as well as in an editorial spread inside the fashion magazine.
Macpherson, who was nicknamed “The Body” during her supermodel heyday in the 1990s, explained to Vogue why she finally agreed to the family photo shoot, which includes shots of her paddle boarding with her sons, playing video games, and just being gorgeous.
The family is celebrating multiple milestones this year, with Macpherson’s 55th birthday, her sons Flynn and Cy turning 21 and 16, respectively, and the fifth anniversary of her wellness company, WelleCo. Plus, it’s Vogue .
“It’s sort of this seminal moment in our lives. Vogue is an iconic brand, and we knew we’d be treated with respect. We’ve been asked for years.”
Macpherson explained that she and her ex, French financier Arpad Busson, made the decision to keep their children out of the public eye when they were younger. The supermodel mom noted that while you can’t stop paparazzi, she and her ex “didn’t think it necessary” for their sons to be recognizable in public.
Now, as her sons are growing older, Macpherson acknowledged that with social media sites such as Instagram, her boys are public and they make their own choices.
The supermodel, who noted that at age 55 she is “hardly a girl” and is now ” the mother of two young men,” also talked about her famous body, which has been photographed for magazines such as Elle, Harper’ Bazaar, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and a record five covers for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue . Macpherson also posed for Playboy in 1994 in a spread shot by famed photographer Herb Ritts.
“I realized early on that I was never going to have the waif-thin fashion body. I was six-foot tall, 36 hips, 36 bust and broad shoulders from swimming all my life. I just needed to embrace my uniqueness.”
In 1997, Macpherson posed for a Vogue Australia cover while pregnant with her son Flynn. At the time, the 33-year-old supermodel was considering that she might focus “exclusively on being a mother.” Instead, she was soon back on camera, this time as an actress shooting episodes of Friends the year after Flynn was born.
Macpherson is close with her sons and has always been able to balance her career with motherhood. The savvy entrepreneur has also made millions from branding her image for Bendon’s Elle Macpherson Intimates lingerie line, and with WelleCo, the plant-based health supplements business she co-founded five years ago.
The August issue of Vogue Australia featuring Elle Macpherson and her sons hits newsstands Monday, July 22.