If there was ever an example of how far gender politics has come inside the world of Australian publishing, the upcoming Elle Australia cover is the perfect pin-up.
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Supermodel and lingerie entrepreneur Elle Macpherson will grace the November issue, 25 years since her last appearance on the local version of the fashion publication.
Back in 1991, Macpherson with nipples showing through a wet white shirt, blazed across the cover of Elle Australia before the closure of the magazine several years later.
Fast forward to 2016 and the former supermodel is taking the Victoria Beckham approach to fashion spreads these days. The medium is no longer the message for these successful women who are now more at home behind-the-scenes and in boardrooms than in bikinis.
While some things have changed, Macpherson was reportedly "really hands on with the styling and very involved in the whole planning process" according to an insider: she teamed up with her ex-husband, renowned photographer Gilles Bensimon, to shoot the new issue of the evolved Elle Australia.
At 52 Macpherson looks the picture of health: strength and sun smarts, wearing a full-sleeved bathing suit. Inside she's encased in a thick woollen jumper and wears Bensimon denim jacket while posing on a super yacht moored somewhere out near Botany Bay.
Editor-in-chief Justine Cullen was excited for the Macpherson-Bensimon-Elle reunion as the pair were integral to the success of the magazine back in 1980s and '90s.
"In 1984, Gilles and Elle were fashion's It-couple. At the time, Gilles was a prolific photographer for Elle France, and together they shot for the magazine.
"No-one seems to remember for sure, but legend has it that Elle (the person) was featured in Elle (the magazine) every issue for six years. And in France, Elle comes out weekly," she said.
The former couple first met on set of an Elle shoot when she was just 18.
"We didn't hit it off in the beginning. I found him very difficult to understand. He had a very strong French accent and I didn't speaking French. I couldn't figure out if he liked working with me or not. And with Giles, there was always a lot of girls ... there might be four, five, six girls on your shoot, so you know, it's not all about you," Macpherson said.
They married when she was 21 and divorced four years later. They reconnected this year for her new lingerie range, where Bensimon photographed a Macpherson doppelganger for the campaign.
