EDITOR’S LETTER
Feminism has long celebrated liberated female sexuality, but has had a less comfortable relationship with beauty. This month’s cover features the very beautiful Emily Ratajkowski, who recently visited Sydney to accept an award at the GQ Australia Men of the Year event. I handed her the trophy, which was in acknowledgement of her activism, rather than just her success in the modelling industry.
Emily has used her huge influence through her 20 million-plus Instagram followers to campaign for voting and women’s rights and, recently, against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, which controversially resulted in her arrest with her friend, comedian and activist Amy Schumer. Emily writes lengthy essays on female empowerment, arguing that women should define and own their sexuality, which need not be contradictory to social advocacy, in any realm they choose.
As the face of Paco Rabanne’s Pure XS fragrance,
Emily wore an outfit from the new spring/summer collection by talented designer Julien Dossena to the GQ event. The same day, the front page of The Daily Telegraph featured Emily in Sydney in a tiny string bikini of her own design, and the images went global.
In accepting her award that evening, she said that for both men and women 2018 had been about defying stereotypes. “It’s about being multifaceted. It’s about wearing a string bikini on the beach, and at a protest,” she said.
“I don’t think that any of us have to limit ourselves into a box, or the perception that anyone tries to force on you. Hopefully, men and women across Australia will take that to heart.”
I think we have, and our fascination with Emily will no doubt endure.
Her childhood friend has moved to Australia and so Emily hopes to visit our shores more regularly. We’d be happy for this to be her home away from home.
In the meantime, we photographed Emily in a Sydney home surrounded by an all-female crew (a fact she enthusiastically pointed out), sitting in a cast-iron bath complete with a gecko. You really can’t get more ‘Australian summer’ than that.
Speaking of which, we are so proud of our female sportswomen who are the stars of our Australian summer – world champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore and tennis player Ashleigh Barty – who are both championing more than just sporting prowess in their fields. Another who is promoting home-grown talent is actor and director Joel Edgerton, who has penned an essay for us reflecting on his hopes for the Australian film industry.
Happy summer and happy New Year.