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If you followed the supermodel peak of the ’80s and ’90s, then you know that Time gave Elle Macpherson a nickname that stuck with her forever, “The Body.” Now, the 61-year-old fashionista is talking about how her body image has evolved from that 1986 moniker.
In a July 20 Instagram post, Macpherson shared a stunning black bikini snapshot that flaunted her toned physique, but the message about the image was even more important.
“Since that famed day in 1986, when Time Magazine coined the term ‘The Body’ for me, my relationship with my physical form has naturally evolved,” she wrote in the caption. “I am constantly learning what resonates with it and what does not – largely through trial and error.”
Elle Macpherson at the La Double J Cocktail Party on December 10, 2024 in New York, New York.
Lexie Moreland/WWD
“That resonance really began in my twenties as a model, walking catwalk after catwalk,” Macpherson continued. “Back then, I understandably assumed it was fitness that determined wellness. But it wasn’t until I had children and faced my own health challenges in my 40s and 50s that I realized there was so much more to wellness than just that.”
Macpherson revealed in her 2024 memoir, elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself, that she battled alcoholism and made the controversial decision to forgo chemotherapy during her breast cancer journey in 2017. Her personal choices went against the advice of her doctor — instead of a mastectomy along with chemo, radiation, and hormone therapy, she sought out holistic options.
“Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been harder,” she wrote in her book. Macpherson is now in remission, but her relationship with her body changed after her cancer battle in her 50s.
“I feel so alive, vibrant. I have a sense of vitality that I never had before. I’m in love, my children are thriving,” Macpherson told Today in November 2024. “I feel like many people feel… that 60 was at the end of the road… I just feel so grateful for the life I’ve had… I feel enthused.”
Before you go, click here to see celebrity women over 50 whose bikini photos are blowing our minds.
