Paulina Porizkova Reveals the Truth of NSFW ‘Frontal Nude’ Vogue Cover

Paulina Porizkova recently made headlines for posing “full-frontal nude” on the cover of Vogue CS at the age of 56, and now the supermodel is revealing the truth behind the NSFW photoshoot. Speaking to Page Six Style, Porizkova confirmed that the photo was “unretouched,” pushing back against initial critics who claimed that it had been. “It’s like, no, no, no … it was Marie [Tomonova’s] photography” she continued. “Obviously, you could take a much worse picture than that of me, but you wouldn’t want to see that on the cover, right?”

In the photo, Czech-born Swedish supermodel is seen donning a black, sheer bodysuit, which essentially covers very little. In her new interview, Porizkova confessed that she actually had no idea the photos would make the cover of the magazine, presuming they would wind up shoved to the back pages somewhere. “I just thought we were screwing around, quite frankly,” she said of the “casual” photoshoot. “You know, we were all just hanging out, speaking Czech, having a good time taking some pictures … I figured we’d have a page or two in the back of Vogue.”

The big photoshoot commemorated the 40th anniversary of when Porizkova first appeared on the cover of Vogue Germany when she was a teenager. “My very first Vogue cover was in May 1981, and it was an extreme close-up on my face,” she recalled. “I was 16 and I thought, ‘Oh my God, the pinnacle of a career is to be on a Vogue cover.’ And then it came out, and you can’t even tell who it is. It’s just a close-up of eyes and a nose. I was like, ‘Oh, great, thanks.’”

In her first comments after the cover was revealed, Porizkova wrote, “Exactly 40 years after my very first (German) Vogue cover at the age of sixteen, here is a new one. Full frontal nude, at 56, on Vogue CZ.” She went on to “thank the brave folks at Vogue CZ” including creative director Jan Králíček and editor-in-chief Andrea Behounkova, “for daring to do this.”

Porizkova added that she wanted to thank “the incredible team behind” the photoshoot “most of all,” especially Tomanova, the photographer who is made her Vogue debut with the new cover. “I can’t wait to share the inside pages as well,” Porizkova continued. “This was one of the most fun and playful photo shoots I have done- possibly in my life. For you peeps who have a problem with the lack of coverup- you can peruse the pages fully dressed.”