Miranda Kerr: Naked Ambition
Miranda Kerr on the Victoria’s Secret runway. Photo: Overall.
You may not have known Miranda Kerr’s name before last year—when she became a paparazzi magnet by marrying Orlando Bloom a month after announcing their engagement, then confirming her pregnancy a few weeks later—but you’d certainly recognize her face. The supermodel has posed for everyone from Jil Sander to Prada, and her girl-next-door, dimpled beauty has made her a Victoria’s Secret favorite—both on the runway and off. I wanted to highlight how this model citizen takes environmentalism to heart: Creating the KORA Organic Skincare line, supporting causes like Wildlife Warriors Worldwide—and posing naked and chained to a tree on the cover of Rolling Stone to protest the lack of a protected habitat for the endangered koala. I traded emails with Miranda from her native Australia, where she was waiting out the end of a joyous pregnancy. Miranda and Orlando welcomed their baby boy, Flynn, into the world on January 6th. Part Three of Four.
Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff: Your modeling career began at age 14, when the Australian magazine Dolly was chastised for publishing photos of you in a bathing suit; since then, you’ve been idolized for your physique. Yet it seems like the modeling industry is changing: Prada recently showed voluptuous models on the runway, and it wasn’t a plus-size show. Do you think these changes are for better, or worse?
Miranda Kerr: I definitely feel the industry is becoming more accepting of all shapes and sizes and this is being reflected in high-end fashion magazines and runways. This is a great step forward.
RLS: Would you encourage your child to become a model? Why or why not?
MK: I will do my best to support my children in whatever career they choose.
Miranda Kerr on the cover of Rolling Stone.
RLS: You’re extremely active in your support for causes that you believe in. Last year you posed for Rolling Stone, naked and chained to a tree, in order to attract public attention for preservation of the koala. How did that come about?
MK: My hometown of Gunnedah has one of the largest koala populations. I was excited to be on the cover of Rolling Stone in support of preserving the koalas. Koalas are disappearing. Loss of koala habitat and koala food trees—they eat eucalyptus leaves—are the leading koala threats.
RLS: What can our readers do to help?
MK: People can donate to the Australian Koala Foundation, which is the principal non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to the conservation and effective management of the wild koala and its habitat.
RLS: Are there any other causes close to your heart that our readers should know about?
MK: The other charity that I actively support is Kids Helpline Australia, which is the only 24 hour, seven day a week service in Australia that children as young as five through to young adults up to the age of 25 can reach out to. In Australia alone, Kids Helpline receives a call every 90 seconds—a high percentage of these calls are from young people wanting to take their life. I am involved in their latest project Too Many Too Soon, which is aimed at reducing the alarming rate of youth suicide.
Also, my family and I have always supported Greenpeace, which has offices in more than 40 countries around the world. It does not accept funding from governments, organizations or political parties and its’ goal is to “ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity.”
I also support an Australian organic garden school project, started by the Biological Farmers of Australia, which [teaches students] organic methods of gardening. Students gain a better understanding of how gardening and farming practices affect the environment, and how they can improve both soils and the quality of their food while working in harmony with the environment.
RLS: All great causes, thank you!
Miranda Kerr on the cover of GQ.
Want more? Our exclusive interview with Miranda Kerr covers parenting, beauty, activism and sins. Check back here next week!
