Harper\'s Bazaar UK - 12.2019

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is simul-
taneously packing for a modelling
assignment in Milan and trying to feed
her two-year-old his breakfast while
talking to me about the transformative
experience of becoming a mother. ‘It’s
such a precious part of my life, but I
have to say it truly pulled the rug from
underneath my feet,’ she says, on the phone from her home in
Los Angeles. ‘I felt such an abundance of emotions, from sheer
ecstasy and happiness to real anxiety and stress.’
Although she juggles her multifarious roles with her customary
grace, you can understand why Rosie might feel overwhelmed.
Shortly before giving birth to Jack, her son with the actor Jason
Statham, she conceived another ambitious new venture: a digital
beauty forum through which she would share her 16 years of
expertise from the make-up chair. ‘That was my bright idea – to
build a baby and a business at the same time,’ she says, laughing.
Rose Inc now has seven employees and occupies communal offices
in Beverly Hills, which is where you will find Rosie when she isn’t
flying around the world fulfilling her modelling commitments.
Launching a company is just the latest addition to an extra-
ordinar y CV that has also included being a Victoria’s Secret Angel,
starring in two films (Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011 and
Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015) and creating a multimillion-pound
business empire. Today, Forbes lists Rosie as the third highest-paid
model in the world, with earnings of $11.5 million in 2018.

Rosie grew up on a small farm in Devon

and left school at 16; she credits her ordin-

ary background with giving her the drive

to succeed. ‘I don’t come from much,’ she

explains, ‘so if I didn’t make a good go of

it, there was nothing for me to fall back on.

‘I find it difficult saying, “I work really

hard”, because being a model comes with so many phenomenal

advantages – travelling all over the world and doing wonderful,

glamorous things,’ she says. ‘But to have a career with longevity

requires strategy, focus and business acumen.’

It also takes likeability, a quality Rosie possesses in spades. When

I first met her, at a photo-shoot in New York three years ago, I

was struck not only by her serene, golden beauty, but also her down-

to-earth nature: she joked about her love of barbecues and pulled

out her iPhone to show me pictures of her beloved dachshunds,

Dolly and Peggy. Despite her otherworldly appearance, she has

a remarkable ability to connect with other women, whether she

is discussing an outfit with her 10.2 million followers on Insta-

gram or designing a bra for her bestselling lingerie range at M&S.

No wonder her cover shoot for the June issue of Bazaar – her

sixth for the magazine – was the highest-selling in three years,

making her a worthy winner of our Editor’s Choice award. ‘My

ambition from day one has always been to build a community and

to really find out what women want,’ she says. It’s a community to

which Bazaar is proud to belong.

ROSIE

HUNTINGTON-

WHITELEY

EDITOR’S

CHOICE

Deftly balancing

motherhood with a

multifaceted career as

a model, designer and

businesswoman, the six-time

Bazaar cover star is a role

model for women worldwide.

By Lucy Halfhead