Cara Delevingne has spoken about the experience of shooting her most revealing magazine cover to date for Playboy, describing the process as both "liberating" and a "f**k you" to conventional expectations.
Delevingne, who is the first openly lesbian woman to grace the print cover of the magazine, detailed the shoot where she wore red heart-shaped pasties and was photographed topless and in lingerie. She noted that the experience felt more like her own choice than previous photoshoots, contributing to a sense of freedom in owning her sexuality and body.
"I love the sense in the freedom of owning my sexuality and owning my body and I think for the first time instead of getting naked for a brand or an editorial, this felt more like my choice," Delevingne said. "Like, of course it's always been my choice, but it felt like something so liberating. That to me is sexy."
She also commented on the cultural significance of the shoot, particularly given Playboy's historical association with heterosexuality. "Of course, Playboy is very much a heterosexual institution. That’s why it felt like a bit of a “f**k you” and a rebellious thing to do, and to have an incredible female-led creative team – a lot of them being queer – felt really fun and different," she stated.
Delevingne also donned the iconic Playboy Bunny Suit for the photoshoot, a distinction previously held by Kate Moss in 2014. Images from the shoot show her in various poses, including lighting a cigarette and modeling lingerie.
Beyond the Playboy feature, Delevingne touched upon her new music career, expressing a desire for her work to be judged on its own merit. She considered releasing her music under a different name to avoid preconceived notions.
The model also candidly revisited her past struggles with addiction, including a near-fatal overdose. She recounted being hospitalized and receiving naloxone after taking what she believed were opiates in cocaine. Delevingne shared that the fallout from her addiction had impacted her career, leading to a silence from industry contacts and a realization of the damage caused.
She detailed checking into a 12-step program after photos emerged of her in a disheveled state. Delevingne underwent a medical weaning from gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and acknowledged the difficulty of staying sober, which ultimately led to the overdose incident.
"So I couldn't stay sober, and then I overdosed because I think there was opiates in the cocaine I think I'd bought or something," she said. "So I was narcanned [given a dose of naloxone, which reverses the impacts of opioid overdose], was in hospital, and that's really when everything happened because when I woke up."