Elizabeth Hurley gave swimwear promotion an unconventional twist as she took to social media on Tuesday - by not wearing any. The actress has established an alternative career as a successful designer after launching seasonal swimwear brand Elizabeth Hurley Beach at Harrods in 2005.
Topless Promotion
She took her latest promotional drive to another level by going topless while advertising the canary yellow Paradise Bikini with Instagram followers. Surrounded by spring daffodils during an outdoor shoot, Hurley, 60, shielded her naked upper-body with her arms as she modelled the bikini's distinctive string lycra bottoms.
Tips for Swimwear Shots
The actress, who also serves as the brand's principal model, recently gave social media followers a series of tips on how to take the best swimwear shots. She wrote: 'Being photographed in a bikini can be scary so here's my number one tip: LIE DOWN!! Even in hideous overhead light, or with nasty hi-def camera phones (these were taken on a phone in direct sunlight). If you s-t-r-e-t-c-h out enough and wear sunglasses you'll look fine. Thank me later.'
Son Damian as Photographer
Hurley previously admitted to enlisting her then 15-year-old son Damian to photograph her in a variety of poses while she modelled her swimwear creations. 'When we're on holiday together, sure he'll take some pictures,' she told the Watch What Happens Live After Show in 2018. 'And you know, he's got a really good eye and he's studying photography and it's ridiculous.'
Damian's Directorial Debut
Now a filmmaker, Damian - Hurley's only child with late American businessman Steve Bing - later cast his mother in his directorial debut, Strictly Confidential, during which her character engages in a steamy lesbian scene. At the time, the young director insisted that he was comfortable filming his mother's sex scenes, so much so that they didn't have intimacy coordinators on set.
He told the Sunday Times: 'I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don't know what that says about us. I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry. They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we'll just have grown up with in everyday life.'
Speaking to Access, his mother added: 'The things that his script needed me to do weren't necessarily things I'd always done in movies many times. But having him there meant that I felt safe and looked-after, and I knew in [post production] he'd look after me.' She added: 'So actually it's kind of liberating to work with your family. I may do it again.'
Meanwhile Damian told Access that whilst people found him shooting his mother in skimpy outfits 'controversial' he didn't see it like that. He said: 'Showbusiness has been a fundamental part of my entire life. So to us, it's not a thing. She takes my photos, I take hers.'
