Elle Macpherson Biography Quotes 27 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Eleanor Nancy Gow was born on March 29, 1964, in the Sydney suburb of Killara, Australia. Her parents separated when she was young, and she grew up primarily with her mother, Frances, a nurse. Frances later married Neill Macpherson, and Eleanor adopted her stepfather's surname, becoming Elle Macpherson, the name that would soon become internationally known. She was educated at Killara High School and planned to study law, with an eye on the University of Sydney. Before beginning university, she traveled and worked to save money, and during a ski holiday in the United States in the early 1980s she was scouted by a modeling agent. That encounter redirected her life; she signed with a New York agency and deferred her studies to pursue modeling.

Rise to International Modeling Fame
Macpherson moved to New York and quickly found herself in demand. Her height, athleticism, and ease in front of the camera made her a favorite for magazine covers, editorial spreads, and major campaigns. She became globally recognizable through repeated appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, ultimately gracing the cover a record five times (1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, and 2006). In 1989, Time magazine famously dubbed her "The Body", a nickname that summarized her impact on a decade that minted the era of the supermodel alongside contemporaries such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Claudia Schiffer. She worked the major fashion circuits in New York, Paris, and Milan, translating runway success into a broader, enduring brand presence.

A key figure in her early life and career was French fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, whom she met through work. The two married in 1986 and divorced in 1989. Their relationship coincided with an intense period of professional growth for Macpherson; she learned from close proximity to top editors and photographers how to manage her image, negotiate contracts, and think about longevity in a fickle industry. These lessons underpinned her evolution from model to entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship and Brand Building
Long before it was common for models to become business leaders, Macpherson built a portfolio that treated her name as an asset. In 1990, she launched Elle Macpherson Intimates in partnership with the New Zealand company Bendon. Rather than functioning as a celebrity endorser, she took an active role in design direction, marketing, and strategy, helping transform the label into a best-selling lingerie brand in markets such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and beyond. The success of the line was a proof of concept for model-led licensing and demonstrated her grasp of product, distribution, and consumer psychology.

Over time, she expanded her business interests into bodywear and wellness. In 2014, she co-founded WelleCo with Australian entrepreneur Andrea Horwood. The company debuted with The Super Elixir, a daily greens supplement positioned at the intersection of nutrition, beauty, and lifestyle. Macpherson served as the public face and a hands-on brand steward, using her platform to discuss sleep, stress, movement, and nutrition as pillars of health. The venture widened her reputation from fashion icon to wellness entrepreneur and connected her with a global community of customers who associated her name not just with appearance but with longevity and vitality.

Acting and Television
Parallel to her modeling and business work, Macpherson built a selective screen career. She appeared in the art-house film Sirens (1994), an Australian production alongside Hugh Grant and Sam Neill that explored beauty and bohemian life. She took a role in the survival drama The Edge (1997), acting opposite Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, and she played Julie Madison in the studio blockbuster Batman & Robin (1997). On television, she reached mainstream audiences with a recurring role as Janine LaCroix on the hit series Friends, showcasing a light comedic touch and self-awareness about her public persona.

Later, she returned to the fashion world from a different vantage point, serving as host and executive producer of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model. In that role, she mentored aspiring models and brought a business-minded perspective to the competition format. She also hosted NBC's Fashion Star, working alongside well-known industry figures such as Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie, and guiding designers through the commercial realities of retail and branding. These projects highlighted her ability to translate personal experience into practical advice for new talent.

Personal Life
Relationships and family have been central to Macpherson's life narrative. After her marriage to Gilles Bensimon ended, she later entered a long-term relationship with French financier Arpad "Arki" Busson. Together they have two sons, known as Flynn and Cy, and Macpherson has frequently emphasized co-parenting and stability as priorities while navigating an international career. Years later, she married American hotel heir Jeffrey Soffer; the couple married in 2013 and later separated. Throughout these chapters, she has kept close ties with her mother Frances, her stepfather Neill Macpherson, and her sister Mimi Macpherson, who is herself a public figure in Australia. These family relationships have been a steady counterpoint to the public-facing demands of fashion, film, and business.

Philanthropy and Public Profile
Macpherson has used her platform to support causes related to women's health, education, and the environment, aligning charitable activity with the wellness principles she communicates through her work. She has frequently spoken about the importance of exercise, balanced nutrition, and mindful living, integrating these themes into both her public talks and product storytelling at WelleCo. Her approach is consistent: encourage long-term habits over quick fixes, and connect outer beauty to inner health.

Legacy and Influence
Elle Macpherson helped define the playbook for the modern model-entrepreneur. She leveraged high-visibility editorial work into durable licensing, then evolved into a founder whose name carries trust across categories. Her Sports Illustrated record and the "The Body" epithet made her an emblem of an era, but it is the durability of her brand, the transition from runway to boardroom, and the balance she has struck between public work and private motherhood that explain her staying power. Surrounded at pivotal moments by collaborators and family members such as Gilles Bensimon, Arpad Busson, Jeffrey Soffer, Andrea Horwood, Frances and Neill Macpherson, and her sister Mimi, she built a life that spans continents and industries. From Killara to New York, London, and Miami, she has remained unmistakably Australian in outlook, pragmatic in business, and attuned to the evolving conversation about health, beauty, and work.

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Other people realated to Elle: Lisa Snowdon (Model)