The Body In Person - My Chat With Elle

Not only getting to meet a supermodel, but interview one is not usually on my agenda. Usually its nappy changes, trips to the park, running errands with two sidekicks, but today I got to put on something other than exercise gear and talk with the one and only, Elle Macpherson aka The Body. Other than talking about her new collection Elle Macpherson Body, we also got to chat about health and wellness and how she maintains that incredible body of hers. It's amazing how much chat you can fit into 15 minutes, so I'm going to break it down. Today, it's all about her bras so to speak and tomorrow it's health, wellness, family and what makes her tick. 

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If you’re an avid fan of her previous work in the world of Lingerie then the first thing you will notice is how different the esthetic and campaign is for Elle Macpherson Body, namely, the lack of Elle as the model.

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“I felt it was time to hand the campaign on to the new generation of girls. I felt confident enough that you didn’t need me in it to sell it. The designs stand for themselves, plus she put on the bra and knickers and made them her own. It’s definitely time to let the new generation of girls make this collection their own”

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I loved her response! It’s refreshing to see a supermodel, who we all know usually front their own campaigns, because lets face it, their face does and has sold millions of things to us consumers over the years. It great to see her really have faith that her designs don’t need “the body” in them to help shift them from the shelves.

A fresh approach to marketing and campaigns goes hand in hand with a new approach to design. One thing Elle thinks she failed to nail, the ever elusive perfect T-shirt bra.

“I found it really hard to design a really good t-shirt bra, because I was doing a lot of lace. Lace and t-shirt bras don't go well together. I promised my self when I started working again I was going to do something that was modern, dynamic, cool, clean lines, unusual colors, smooth and really cater for women.”

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T-shirt bras the base of a new brand? I know you are thinking boring, but so does Elle, but there is good reason for it.

“I said to my partner, okay we're going to do this together but the first thing we need to do is to create the best t-shirt bra. A lot of people don't want to do that because it is boring. We're all different shapes and sizes and certain back on it works for some, some people want a plunge push. Some people just want a very smooth bra. Some people want an under wire, under wire V, under wire scoop.”

I had never thought about it like that, silly right?! We are definitely not one size fits all so there is no “one perfect” bra. We need options for all our massively varied shape and sized boobs!

“What I found was, we created six profiles, six bra shapes and six nipple shapes. We have created them all in eight colors. They are eight fashion forward colours, they are strong in pigment but also don't show under a white t-shirt.”

I got a little bit excited and gushed about how I LOVED the nude in the range, there is just a little something different about it. Not to mention the range of colours, bold but still classic, used throughout the whole range, all influenced from the colour palettes of Prada, Celine and Gucci.

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“The nude is called sand. I did it after the sand beaches of Australia, which are quite yellow. I wanted the nude to stand alone as a colour, not as your usual nude. It really balances with the rest of the range well, if you put the nude with the burgundy or the nude with the citronelle it looks like it matches in it’s own way.”

Starting  firmly with the basics is brave, in my humble opinion.  But the collection is growing. It’s exclusively stocked at Farmers and there are new deliveries every week, including some cool and forward thinking designs plus a good dose of lace for all us lace lovers out there.

“Thank god I have a partner that makes great bras and knickers already. Technically he knows what he's doing. It allowed me to really create the collection that I wanted. Part of the collection, the Elle Macpherson Body collection is all the t-shirt bras and knickers. The rest of the main line is lace and moving in-to sleep wear eventually. At the moment it's all lace and unusual designs”

The biggest lesson she learnt in all her years in this industry?

“Fit is the most important thing. Coco Chanel said true luxury is comfort and style. I believe that to be true. We have tried, what I believe is to endeavor a collection that is comfortable and stylish.”

And from taking my 12DD chest for a spin in one of her styles this afternoon, it definitely hits that mark!

Check back tomorrow for the rest of our chat. I basically am best mates with Elle now right?!