Kate Upton shoots for Vogue

Kate Upton was dismissed as a girl with ‘the kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy,’ by Victoria’s Secret earlier this year.

But now, as she lands her second Vogue shoot, there is little doubt that the model is a bona fide member of the high fashion set.

Hailed ‘The New Girl’ by the fashion glossy, Miss Upton, 20, was shot by top photographer Steven Meisel in a backless black one-piece with damp, tousled hair for the November issue.

The rest of the seven-page spread sees her model classic sportswear in a crisp palette of red, black, white and blue.

But the model, who shot to fame at the start of this year after landing the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, has no plan to embrace the super-skinny high fashion look.

‘I don’t want to starve myself,’ she says. ‘I still want to hang out with my family and be a normal girl. You have to be confident, and that doesn’t mean starving yourself.’

In fact, she plans to use her raised public profile to be an ambassador for a healthy approach to body image.

‘I think it’s important to look at magazines and think a healthy lifestyle is attainable,’ she explains. ‘Now that the fashion industry likes the idea of me, I’m happy if I can have an influence.’

She says she is particularly comfortable in a swimsuit because she grew up near the beach in Florida, where it was ‘no big deal’.

‘When I lived in Florida, the swimsuit was the key wardrobe piece,’ she says. ‘I lived ten minutes from the beach, but I never sat there and said, “I want to be every man’s fantasy.”‘

Miss Upton first appeared in Vogue in June, and many fans were surprised to see her heavily wrapped up in a long coat and over-knee boots.

The French editrice said, ‘I didn’t want a normal model. I wanted someone with a sensual body, someone who could be a mother for all these babies…

‘I would not say she’s a controversial model, but she’s not a classic model. And I like that.’

She added that Miss Upton was a dream to work with, fitting the theme perfectly.

by Harry Harper

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