[AAYi Fashion]Still Australia's top swimsuit model ... Elle Macpherson.
[AAYi Fashion][AAYi Fashion]Business is great but Elle still jealously guards her top model status.
[AAYi Fashion][AAYi Fashion]As other retailers struggle, Elle Macpherson's multimillion-dollar Intimates lingerie company is going from strength to strength, with new product lines on the drawing board.
[AAYi Fashion][AAYi Fashion]''I'm looking at reworking the tiers of Elle Macpherson Intimates and focusing on different areas where there are small gaps in the market,'' she said. ''It's focusing on expanding and exploring new product within the brand.''
[AAYi Fashion]Macpherson's company already includes products devoted to sleepwear, larger-cupped women, men and maternity as well as her main line but she was confident there were new frontiers in bra straps and briefs to be explored.
Advertisement: Story continues below ''Fashion-forward shapes in basics but [also] new technologies that mean the bras are incredibly comfortable and give superb support,'' she said.
Earlier this month, Bendon, the parent company of Elle Macpherson Intimates, announced it had bought three new brands from the apparel company Gazal. Lovable, Davenport and Kissed by Lovable will join the Bendon stable of brands under the deal, which follows the recent announcement by Bendon that it is merging with lingerie company Pleasure State.
The acquisitions reflect Bendon's confidence in its growth, which Macpherson said her brand was very much a part of.
''I've been in business with them [Bendon] for 21 years,'' she said. ''I believe women are embracing their femininity more than ever before.''
She may still be known as The Body but Macpherson certainly has a head for business.
Last week, the model was in Sydney promoting Australian beauty brand Invisible Zinc. She is also contracted to Revlon and produces and hosts reality TV show Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model.
But her domination in the realm of swimsuit shoots was challenged recently by fellow Australian model Jessica Gomes, who claimed she had received more offers from Sports Illustrated magazine than Macpherson.
''It is the fifth year in a row Sports Illustrated has asked me back, which is more times than Elle Macpherson,'' Gomes said in a comment that was widely reported.
But Macpherson said she had in fact been on ''six, I think'' covers of Sports Illustrated, rather than simply within the magazine.
''She [Gomes] is a gorgeous girl and I think it's fantastic that she's working for Sports Illustrated,'' Macpherson said. ''I hope to see her on the cover one day.''
