10 hot stories, including Emrata hits back at her critics, candid Corbyn and the no-fail sales edit
Emrata hits back at her critics
As she collaborates with French brand The Kooples, Emily Ratajkowski defends her right to be a sexy feminist
SHE IS THE ULTIMATE selfie-generation superstar. A model who got her break in a music video, Emily, 26, is also an actor and designer. And with 16 million Instagram followers, it’s no surprise that brands are clamouring to get some of the Emrata magic. So successful was her first collaboration with The Kooples, she has teamed up with them again for a second collection of the hit Emily bags. Boxy top-handle styles in vibrant shades, they’re inspired by Emily’s creative California upbringing. ‘I’m an artistic person, so working on projects that I love is amazing,’ she says when we meet at the Chateau Marmont – a fittingly iconic LA destination.
‘Emily is the girl of the moment,’ explains the brand’s creative director of menswear, Alexandre Elicha. ‘Even if you don’t like her, you want to know more about her,’ adds his brother Raphael, The Kooples director of brand image. He’s right, of course – everybody’s got an opinion about Emrata.
Supremely confident in her sexuality, Emily’s also outspoken about being a feminist. It’s a duality some find tough to reconcile: notably Piers Morgan, who recently tweeted in response to a lingerieclad video that Emily made for LOVE magazine: ‘Somewhere, Emmeline Pankhurst just vomited.’ He also called her ‘a global bimbo’ on Good Morning Britain.
So why does she think people find it hard to understand? ‘It’s sexism, basically,’ she says now. ‘I think there’s a valid argument behind the idea that sexiness is patriarchal, and that’s problematic. But that being said, it can be really limiting to young women who feel like that’s their self-expression; someone telling them that they can’t do that is suppressing. It’s not taking people seriously because of how they present themselves, which women get a lot more than men.’
The wider issue is that we struggle as a society to hold two ideas of a person – female celebrities in particular – in our head at once, instead shoehorning them into binary, restrictive categories ( good/ bad, pretty/smart, virgin/whore). The reality, of course, is much more nuanced. ‘People try to put women in boxes and stereotype them as one thing. There’s a need, even as a woman, to become a certain “type” of girl,’ agrees Emily. ‘But I feel extremely multifaceted. One moment I can be super-silly with my friends, and the next minute I feel like the sexiest woman in the world. And that to me doesn’t change what my core ideals are, or what I have to say. Just because someone can be sexual doesn’t mean they can’t be serious.’
One thing’s for sure, she’s not afraid to talk about serious subjects. Being ‘woke’ is more than a label for Emily: a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, who joined the Women’s March in LA this year, she is indicative of the political galvanisation of many right now – but notes that more must be done. ‘I think #Metoo was an amazing moment, but I really think the next step is “I believe you”. I don’t know any women who felt necessarily surprised that everyone had a #Metoo [story]. To really organise and make a change is beyond sharing your stories. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s so much more to be done.’
In Trump’s US, Emily can see shades of hope in the next generation. ‘ The fashion industry is changing; girls 10 years younger than me are more diverse in their idea of what’s beautiful. One thing that we can do collectively is celebrate the things that make us each uniquely beautiful.’ That might sound easy for the cartoonishly beautiful Ratajkowski to say. But then again, she’s so much more than a pretty face.
EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE HER, YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE