Fashion Icons Love These Eight Naked Supermodels

Love magazine puts eight naked supermodels on eight different covers of its third bi-annual edition. The "Fashion Icons" issue shows how different these supermodels' measurements are.


Standing naked on the covers in the same pose (legs wide apart and both arms raised to reveal the armpit), the eight supermodels are chosen because they "represent the ideal of beauty in fashion today."

The eight (8) supermodels who come in various sizes are:

1. Kate Moss
2. Daria Werbowy
3. Jeneil Williams
4. Amber Valletta
5. Natalia Vodianova
6. Naomi Campbell
7. Lara Stone
8. Kristen McMenamy

Love editor Katie Grand explains:

"For this issue of LOVE, we took eight women who are generally acknowledged as the most beautiful in the world, got them to show off their bodies - widely regarded as the most perfect in the world - and photographed them all in exactly the same position for the cover. We did this to show how much they differed physically from one another, which is why we also printed their measurements.

"The point is that 'perfection' is not fixed, timeless or transcendent. It varies, as the measurements of our cover girls show."

These eight ideal beauties may come in different sizes and colors, but note that they do not represent all women (no plus-sized, Hispanic, Asian or Middle Eastern). They all have great legs, they stand tall at a minimum height of 5'6.5", they are essentially flawless and yes, they are the "supermodels."

The eight Love covers are photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot and will go on sale in one week's time - Monday February 8 - priced £5.

Now which of these supermodels will make the highest profit for the magazine? That could hint us the most-sought-after beauty today, from the point of view of readers.

Why Are Models Lying Down For Sping Campaigns?

Lara Stone is lying on her back in a woodsy setting with some birds for Louis Vuitton, Georgia May Jagger lands on a white fur blanket after falling backward over a purple velvet chair for Versace, and Raquel Zimmermann is being wrapped on sands by more than 30 brightly colored snakes for Alexander Mcqueen - these are just three of the numerous models all lying supine for spring fashion advertisements.

Ever wonder why lots of models are lying down for the spring campaigns?



"It's obviously sexual. But the other thing I think of is animal psychology, because I do watch 'The Dog Whisperer.' When dogs or cats lower themselves to make themselves seem submissive, they are giving up their power and displaying their lack of aggression," said David Wolfe, the creative director of trend forecasting company Doneger Group.

Mr. Wolfe further suggested that what we are seeing in the lying-for-spring ads may be the modern equivalent of swooning. Given the dark tone of the times, it may reflect a desire to return to traditional gender roles - or it could just be that the spring fashions were so restrained that they didn't know what else to do.

"It's very hard to make a sexy picture of an elegant dress. But throw the woman on the ground, and, oh, it's a sexual come-on. That moves merchandise," said Wolfe.

Lara Stone Narrates Life As A Curvy Model

Curvy and proud size 4, supermodel Lara Stone talks about her early hardships in the modeling industry in latest Vogue interview.


When you're a model, nobody calls you fat. "What they say is 'curvy' but you know they mean fat," says Dutch supermodel Lara Stone who stands 5'10" and wears a size 4. And the fat label could only get worse. When the stylists started whispering in a corner after trying on clothes for ten minutes, "that is when I know I'm about to be canceled."

Like most fashion models, Lara Stone was scouted in her teens. Back then, she was a "typical angry teenager" with no interest other than cigarettes and dressing up for the Halloween. During one of her family's trip to Paris, she was scouted by an agent in the Métro. She spent a few years in Paris living the typical life of a struggling model — sharing an apartment with five other girls, went on endless casting calls ("Walk. Turn. Walk. Thank you"), and posed for catalog shoots that "paid well but not spectacularly."

By the age of 22, Lara Stone met Derek Dayley, a young agent at IMG who was intrigued by her unconventional looks. "She had been pigeonholed as this pretty, fresh-faced blonde, but I saw something else. She's got this interesting, one-of-a-kind beauty," the agent would later reveal.

The big model agency has helped paved the way for Lara Stone's career. She soon appeared in ad campaigns for Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and Hugo Boss. She also walked the runway for almost every major designer including Marc Jacobs, Balmain, and Isabel Marant.

Despite the success, it is still not easy for a young girl to constantly feel being the different one. And for a size 4 model in the land of size zeros, famous Lara Stone is always considered as the odd one.

"It's depressing when the clothes don't fit and you are always the odd one out... I was on a shoot just last week. And the stylist took out this tight corset dress and said, 'Here, put it on,' and I was like, 'Who are you kidding?' There was no way, so that was very rude of her. It's like, come on, she's a woman; whether you're buying jeans at the mall or wearing couture, you know what it's like for clothes not to fit. It's not an easy kind of rejection, because it's very personal. It's you, your body. You take it to heart."

Despite the "curvy" praises, Lara Stone soon began to feel the pressure of losing weight. She went on diet and exercise, but nothing worked. She even tried pills but stopped because it made her heart race. Eventually, she started drinking alcohol to get through the day.

Still, nobody seemed to notice ("In this job, you're always in different countries with different people.") and soon, Lara Stone's alcohol problems got worse. "I was waking up shaking. I couldn't do anything until I had a drink. I hated it. I didn't like the person I became. Plus, I was looking like absolute shit, waking up with a swollen red face, pimples everywhere," she recalled.

Admitting to herself that she really had a problem, she voluntarily checked into a month-long alcohol rehabilitation program in South Africa. "I thought it would be like a holiday, but it turned out I was in lockdown for 23 hours. It was really not a holiday. It was a lot of therapy, a lot of crying, and a lot of difficult moments," she said.

But the therapy was also successful. She has not had a drink for eight months. And months later, Lara Stone was back on on the scene, an unlikely but rising supermodel strutting her curves and even winning the hearts of fashion critics.

As they say, clothes hang better on a coat hanger but some clothes look better on bodies with "boobs."

Karl Lagerfeld, a fan of the model's fuller figure, says "Lara Stone has a gorgeous woman's body."

Virginia Smith, the fashion market editor of Vogue, says "Lara makes clothes look good. It's refreshing to see her come down the runway. Sometimes I'll call in a piece, it will arrive, and I'll think, Why did I think I liked that? Then I'll remember, Oh, because Lara wore it."

Renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino says "I have never thought of Lara as fat. It is just a matter of different shapes. It reminds me of when I started to work with Gisele; everyone used to think that she was too voluptuous. Look at where she is now!"

Lara Stone, indeed, is in every inch a supermodel at the peak of her career — despite that her size remains an issue.

As for her personal issues, the curvy supermodel just says "I like my job. I don't want to do anything else... People think I'm angry because of my face, or that I'm a sex bomb. I'm neither... People still tell me I'm fat, but when I look in the mirror, that's not what I see."