Monica Lewinsky, the anti-bullying activist who found herself at the centre of a 90s media storm after an affair with President Bill Clinton, has been signed by a major fashion brand.
Ms Lewinsky was chosen by women's fashion house Reformation to lead the company's latest voting campaign. The “You've Got the Power” work wear campaign was launched on Monday in partnership with Vote.org.
The campaign is aimed at “reminding” people of their voting “power”.
“Voting is using your voice to be heard, and it's the most defining aspect of democracy,” Ms Lewinsky was quoted as saying on the company's website.
“If you wanna complain for the next four years, you gotta go out and vote.”
Ms Lewinsky – now an author – was just 22 when she became romantically involved with the then president, who was 27 years her senior. News of their relationship dominated the US news agenda in 1998 and 1999, after the president initially denied it before admitting to “inappropriate intimate physical contact” with the White House intern.
In 2018, Ms Lewinksy said their relationship constituted a “gross abuse of power” on Mr Clinton's part, noting that he was “the most powerful man on the planet… with enough life experience to know better”. Since re-emerging into the public eye in 2014, she has regularly spoken out publicly against cyberbullying, calling herself “patient zero” of the internet trend.
The Reformation campaign features Ms Lewinsky modelling a leather trench coat, a bright red two-piece outfit, sweaters and other workplace attire.
“It's a super important election year and faith in big institutions is pretty low,” Reformation says on it's website.
“We get it. We don't wanna be another brand just tell you to vote, so we partnered with experts at Vote.org.”
As part of the campaign, Reformation's website includes information about registering to vote. The company has also made a $25,000 (£20,000) donation to Vote.org, the country's largest non-partisan organisation that works to encourage people to participate in the voting process.
In an interview published on Monday in Elle Magazine, Ms Lewinsky said the partnership was in response to increased voter frustration and apathy going into November's presidential election.
“We all have to be reminding each other that we can't let that get in the way of needing to vote, that that's how we use our voice. That's where our power is,” she told the magazine.
Reformation hired a movement coach to work with Ms Lewinsky for her photo shoot with photographer Zoey Grossman.
“I don't know if this will sound corny but I think a way that women can feel more empowered is by recognizing places that they may need more assistance and asking for that assistance,” Ms Lewinsky said about her decision to become a fashion model.
Ms Lewinsky also told Elle that turning 50 over the summer was a “real gift”.
“It was a year of acceptance. I was able to accept so much about myself and my life and where I am, and so that meant coming into 50 was great,” she said.
“I'm excited about this new decade and I'm hopeful—which, for someone with a lot of trauma, even saying that feels scary.”
— CutC by bbc.com
