Coco Rocha condemns Elle Brazil for violating her no-nudity policy

Canadian model Coco Rocha alleges that Elle Brazil airbrushed out a nude bodysuit in contravention of her strict no-nudity policy.

We get so used to seeing top models in a state of partial, or in the case of the Pirelli Calendar, total nudity, that it's easy to forget that some girl's actively refuse to bare all.

Canadian beauty Coco Rocha is one such model. 'Discovered' aged 13 at an Irish dancing competition in 2002, she has long had strict clauses in her contract spelling out exactly what she will, and more importantly won't show for the camera - a contract which she claims Elle Brazil have effectively broken.

Rocha stars at the May 2012 cover girl for the fashion magazine, but took to her blog 'Oh So Coco' last night to condemn the publication for photoshopping out a nude bodysuit she had insisted on wearing to protect her modesty. She writes:

'As a high fashion model I have long had a policy of no nudity or partial nudity in my photo shoots. For my recent Elle Brazil cover shoot I wore a body suit under a sheer dress which I now find was photoshopped out to give the impression of me showing much more skin than I was, or am comfortable with. This was specifically against my expressed verbal and written direction to the entire team that they not do so. I'm extremely disappointed that my wishes and contract was ignored. I strongly believe every model has a right to set rules for how she is portrayed and for me these rules were clearly circumvented.'

Rocha's strict no-nudity contract has in no way affected her reaching the pinnacle of her career whilst remaining one of the most popular models on the circuit. As an occasional muse to Zac Posen and Jean Paul Gaultier, Rocha has appeared on the cover of six international Vogue's, countless other magazines and has represented brands including Chanel, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent and Calvin Klein in worldwide advertising campaigns. Still only 23, Rocha is also a prolific philanthropist who has worked to help victims of Haiti's earthquake through her film 'Letters to Haiti', and survivors of human trafficking and exploitation in Cambodia with her jewellery line for Senhoa.

In 2011 Rocha also starred in a Photoshop-free campaign for Canadian fashion retailer Jacob stating on her blog at the time that she hoped the shoot would "balance the scales a little by pulling so far back from what has been the current trend of total digital model manipulation". Seems that Elle Brazil missed that post too...

No confirmation yet as to whether Rocha will take her complaint any further and seek legal advice - watch this space.

(Published by The Telegraph - April 25, 2012)