Style icon leads the Australian Women’s Weekly’s 90th birthday celebrations
She’s one of the most instantly-recognisable and respected fashion doyennes of all time. As gorgeous today as she was in her modelling heyday in the 1960s, Maggie Tabberer is leading The Australian Women's Weekly magazine’s historic 90th birthday issue with a gorgeous new photo shoot.
The September issue, on sale today, kicks off 90 days of celebrations featuring a who’s who of the incredible women who have shaped Australian life since the magazine was first published in 1933, including Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Bindi & Terri Irwin, Olivia Newton John, Nicole Kidman, and Dame Quentin Bryce and more.
In an exclusive interview, two-time Gold Logie winner and TV veteran Maggie discusses her extraordinary career and private life, including her relationship with controversial photographer Helmet Newton, whose photos catapulted her to become Australia’s first supermodel.
She also opens up about:
- How Kerry Packer personally phoned to offer her the job of fashion editor on the Australian Women’s Weekly
- The one demand she made that enraged him
- How Newton put her in ‘very dangerous situations’
- The toll her career took on her two daughters
- The beauty routine she’ll never give up
- Her advice for young models just starting out
“Modelling was bloody hard work,” she smiles, “but Helmut was great fun - I absolutely adored him. They are very, very happy memories.”
When she joined the Australian Women’s Weekly in 1981, there was only one person more excited than she was. “My mother loved The Women’s Weekly. It was the holy grail in our house. She was absolutely thrilled,” says Maggie, who admits she was ‘scared s***less’ on her first day.
Australian Women’s Weekly editor-in-chief Nicole Byers says Maggie is the perfect choice to celebrate the iconic magazine’s 90th birthday.
“She wasn’t just a fashion icon, she was the heart and soul of The Women’s Weekly,” she says. “Her effortless style, poise and vivacity resonated with our readers for decades, and are undiminished today.”
But the brand-new shoot did present a major challenge.
“Maggie’s wardrobe over the years has been famously monochrome,” Nicole says. “As she herself says ‘white for summer, black for winter’ so it took a lot of persuading to get her to pose in light pink! Luckily, she was surprised and thrilled with the result, and so are we – she’s never looked better.”
Also in this issue, Denise Scott exclusively reveals her devastating health battle for the first time; The Weekly interviews the Sara Quads – Australia’s first surviving quadruplets who engrossed the country in the 1950s and beyond; White Island survivor Stephanie Browitt and her mother Marie tell their story together for the first time plus The Weekly launches a competition to discover Australia’s Best Baker – with the winner set to appear in an upcoming edition of The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Children’s Birthday Cake Book.
The September issue’s cavalcade of icons also features heroines from earlier days such as Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, trailblazing federal judge Elizabeth Evatt and Holocaust survivor Judy Cassab. It’s the first of a three-part series which will continue in the October and November editions along with more exclusive and tributes to be revealed in the coming months.
-ENDS-
For more information:
Marlene Richardson | GasbagPR
0409 888 218
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