Emily Ratajkowski knows what you think of her. to her Provocative street style So prolific and well documented that it borders on performance art (see: Anytime you collaborate with Miu Miu). Her love life is highly speculated around that single appear before the court Triggers a weeks-long news cycle. Whatever way she decides to appear in the world and express herself as a woman, people are paying attention to her, and she owns that too.
This self-awareness—along with her fascination with the reactions to her public image and how she is perceived—is the underline of much of her work. In addition, she is a Twins. And as such, contain multitudes.
Courtesy of Viktor and Rolf
“I’m a Gemini. I totally identify,” she told me of her sun sign. When we meet in a fragrant hotel room not far from Madison Square Park, she’s wearing bangs, a blazer, smoky eyeliner, and gorgeous floral perfume. Like Ratajkowski herself, the scent in question – Venus bomb Viktor and Rolf The fragrance, which she just became the face of—is equal parts feminine and sexy, apt given that the twins represent a duality within the zodiac. “It’s the kind of thing a 60-year-old aunt would know,” Ratajkowski says of the fragrance. “But also a 14-year-old girl, who I think is really special.” The remake of the iconic scent, which she describes as a very personal fragrance that “everyone relates to,” is just the latest in a series of new projects for the model.
Recently, the 31-year-old focused on her podcast, High Low with Emily RatajkowskAnna, and enjoys motherhood (she gave birth to her son, Sylvester Apollo Bear, in 2021), but she has, at one time or another, been branded (or adopted) by the title of memoirist, actress, model, and muse. These many seemingly contradictory roles—media and critic, feminist and fashion plate, mother and sex—all ladder into what is arguably her life’s project: using her perspective as a figure to critique fame through a feminist lens. After all, Pamela Anderson, Monica Lewinsky, and Paris Hilton are not Her Dream Podcast Guests for nothing.
“I think these three women have really gotten out of control of their image and are controlling it in different ways,” she explains. “They have complicated relationships with their sexualization in the media. They used it to their advantage, and it was also very detrimental to them. But, I think they are all really smart and have interesting things to say.” These are the women, like Ratajkowski, who have been viewed, criticized, and over-analyzed by the media, culture, and even their fans. However, unlike Ratajkowski in some ways, they did so long before attitudes changed—something you’re all too aware of.
Courtesy of Viktor and Rolf
“Have you seen this stuff on TikTok — and with Gen Z in general — how do they all restore ‘bimbo’ as a positive thing?” she asked me halfway through our conversation. By now, I think I know where she’s going with the question, but it’s exciting to hear Ratajkowski put it in her own words: “I mean, I’d say my podcast is mainly about bimbo culture.” The description is the bare truth, and undoubtedly part of the sleeper podcast made appeal. With guests like Donatella Versace, Chloe Cherry, and Julia Fox, high low is one of the few celebrity podcasts with real skill.
For me in the age of slimming TikTok and “lucky girl syndrome,” Ratajkowski feels like a fitting saint (aka the popular podcast host). She says cute things like, “I really love Hailey Bieber’s lip balm, it makes me feel like a little slut.” She brings a brown brow pencil with her everywhere (“I use it as a lip liner, then fill in my mole, and give myself freckles”). She understands the power of “bimbo culture” and knows about cult-favorite skincare products like Weleda Skin Food. It’s only Obtains He. She.
She is also, of course, still a mother, first of all. “It’s funny because so many people have asked me about my skincare routine, and I gave them the 12-step that I do on certain nights, but can I tell you how many nights I’m like, ‘You know what I’m not going to do tonight?'” I will not wash my face? He came before her, but it’s easy to forget that these days she groups herself in the first group, not the last. “I just like to sleep on the bed, and I get this feeling because I’m so tired, you know?”
Despite everything else going on in her life, life at home is clearly her number one priority. She’s adopted the required “emergency” nighttime routine that comes with taking less time for herself, which, for Ratajkowski, is little more than splashing her face with water, applying moisturizer (Weleda Skin Food, of course), and then “passing out.” She’s committed to boring mommy things like staying organized (admittedly, she’s “really messy”) and cleaning out her enviable closet (she just donated 32 boxes of clothes). But Ratajkowski also makes it known that the perks of motherhood far outweigh the adjustments. When I ask who the most inclusive person you know is, she answers quickly with a smile. “Do you know, my child? Are you kidding?”