FRANKLY, Tiah Eckhardt doesn’t give a damn.
The 28-year-old is not afraid to have a controversial opinion nor show off (with handcuffs if necessary) the sort of sex bomb body that has global lingerie makers jostling to sign her up.
She’s not shy about posting sizzling rants on social media about double standards for women in Australia. Actually, she’s not shy at all. Which makes the Rockingham native a bold and refreshing departure for Telstra Perth Fashion Festival, choosing a “real” ideal as its face of the festival this year.
Next month Eckhardt jets home in her first official role to shoot the annual promotional campaign ahead of the September event.
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Given the festival has favoured wide-eyed and willowy “next big things” in the past, Eckhart believes her selection is a sign that the tide is slowly turning around the world. She points to Robyn Lawley, a plus-sized model scoring a Swimsuit Illustrated cover and 83-year-old Carmen Dell’Orefice, still in demand on the catwalk, explaining it’s “the confidence and attitude a wider range of beauty can add”.
“Grown women are kind of sick of having only size eight 16-year-olds shoved down their throats as the singular ideal to aspire to. There’s space for more than just that one thing,” she says.
Eckhardt is regarded internationally for her vibrant red mane, her killer curves and her fearless nature. In her 14-year modelling career, she’s climbed volcanoes for Vanity Fair, wrestled Daisy Lowe in a hay barn in the English countryside for Agent Provocateur, and modelled on horseback for David Jones in an Irish castle owned by the Guinness family.
Now based in the Napa Valley, California, with husband Patrick Delaney and their daughter, Finley, 5, she says she is thrilled to be representing the festival.
“I’m very excited for the shoot and so incredibly flattered that TPFF have chosen me to represent the event,” she says. “Obviously when you come from Perth, the festival is where you get your first experiences of runway and events, and over the years it’s been great to see local creative talents that I started out with also evolve and be successful.”
Her seductive poses have been setting pulses racing for over a decade, fronting campaigns for some of the biggest names in lingerie including Agent Provocateur, Dita Von Teese, Berlei and Elegantly Scant.
In 2010, she replaced bombshell Lara Stone (the world’s No. 1 model at the time) as the face of Eres. She’s posed nude for French Playboy and stripped bare for STM in 2009.
But in a first for Eckhardt, a recent campaign for Australian label Honey Birdette proved too risqué, breaching national advertising guidelines and deemed inappropriate for its placement in a public shopping centre. In the offending photo, Eckhardt posed in leather-look underwear and matching handcuffs.
Eckhardt took her outrage to Facebook.
“Oddly, Australia/my homeland is probably the most prudish, slut-shaming First World country I’ve found in my travels,” she posted.
“Sure, put topless chicks on men’s mags in every 7/11 where they are pandering to the typical, male-satisfying ideal of ‘sexy’, yet take images of a confident woman with attitude, wearing underwear that covers more than 90 per cent of swimsuits on the market, in a store that empowers women by taking sexuality out of the hands of men and into their own and it’s somehow lewd?
“Every VS (Victoria’s Secret) catalogue I’ve ever seen is raunchier and more revealing than this, but I guess that brand of sexy is all about submissive smiles and faux-innocent coquetry, so it’s OK. Or was I not blonde and tanned enough for you, Australia?
“Get over it. Women are in charge of their own sexuality and tastes these days and if it lends more towards leather (instead of the typically hypersexualised, teen/ephebophiliac encouragement that mainstream media promotes) then it’s not OK. Yeah, nice example there: Let women appear sexual, but only if it’s in a way deemed appropriate and beneficial to a conventional and patriarchal governing force.”
Eckhardt says public reaction has been largely supportive to her post.
“For Agent Provocateur, Daisy (Lowe) and I were photographed wearing (nipple) pasties; we had whips, had a food fight and a bubble bath together, and no one cared. That was in stores all over both Europe and the US.
“(With Honey Birdette) I had close to 200 supportive comments in just a few hours, all by women affirming they want to be in charge of their own sexuality, the way they want to look and how they want to live their lives and that there is often an unfair double standard.
“My issue personally was that Honey Birdette is a company created and operated by women, for women and any representation of sexiness is marketed to their female customers.
“There is far more graphic and insidious advertising of a sexual nature on the market that is completely ignored and accepted by society because it is aimed at a male audience, selling men’s products, yet it’s overlooked.
“Targeting a company that represents female sexuality for the benefit of women, yet not those who use women’s sex appeal to sell everything else, sends the message to women that it’s only acceptable to be sexy for the benefit of others and not for their own enjoyment.
“It tells women that their bodies belong to society, not themselves and I think that is a huge underlying cause of so many issues regarding body image and self-worth.
“It’s not as simple as dress sizes or whether companies Photoshop their images or not.”
Growing up in Rockingham, Eckhardt was always comfortable in her skin.
“I grew up dancing and acting so I’ve always had a healthy respect for what my body is capable of and the mind-body connection in general,” she says. “I spent my childhood in swimsuits at the beach or running around under the garden sprinklers in summer.”
And while she’s featured in countless glossies across the globe in top international labels, she’s most recognisable with her clothes off.
“I’ve always had a personal interest in lingerie, more so than outerwear, but I didn’t do my first lingerie campaign until I was 21,” says Eckhardt, who has a personal collection of more than 400 sets curated over her career.
“I started going to castings with those clients and getting the job because I’d end up chatting with them about all different aspects of their bras and knickers. I think they appreciate that I understand and enjoy their products.”
In March 2012 Eckhardt launched her blog The Daily Knicker. “It started as a bit of a personal joke,” she says. “My friends all knew I was obsessed with lingerie, so I would do Facebook status updates on what I was wearing that day or if I bought anything new.
“Then girls, and people with girlfriends, started to be interested in buying things based on what I’d recommended and requesting pictures, so I started the blog. Initially it was just for my friends and now I have over 50,000 people reading via various platforms.
“There are a lot of fashion blogs out there but nowhere near as many dedicated to lingerie and, if they are, the products are not usually shown on actual bodies or spoken about with such frankness. There wasn’t really anyone doing what I was doing when I started it and I think that’s why it’s taken off.”
Telstra Perth Fashion Festival director Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan says that she believes Eckhardt is the perfect fit as the face of the 2015 festival.
“Tiah is super glamorous and has an amazing presence while remaining very real,” Harvey-Hanrahan says.
“In 2004 she was named Model of the Year and for her to still be working at this calibre at 28 is amazing. It’s great to have her back in such a big way.”
Telstra Perth Fashion Festival runs from September 15-20.