Thursday, May 24, 2012    Text size: 

NEW YORK — Supermodel Anja Rubik has relaunched erotic fashion publication 25 Magazine.

Fashioned after the 1973 Viva erotic magazine for women created by late Penthouse publisher Bob Guiccione, Rubik has taken full editorial control of the Vienna-based magazine and is rebranding the publication.

The model has been working on the magazine since 2009 and announced her new venture at a Pierre Cardin party in Cannes.

“I had the idea because I really loved the magazine Viva from the ‘70’s, which was a Penthouse publication for women. I loved the vision of it, and that was what formed the inspiration for me. 25 is basically directed toward very strong-minded, ambitious women, who are very comfortable with themselves and their sexuality. I was thinking a lot recently and looking how sex is approached nowadays, and nudity, and bodies. Erotica kind of disappeared. The way we approach sex is either really prude or very vulgar,” Rubik told Style.com.

Circa ‘70’s Playboy magazines and former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld have also inspired Rubik’s new creation.

The new issue will feature 300 pages with nudes and was shot completely by female photographers such as Annie Leibovitz and Ellen von Unwerth.

Despite a few offers, the magazine will have no advertising in the first few issues according to Rubik, because its image is still evolving.

"It's mainly a fashion magazine, but with an erotic twist. I think it's balanced quite well. There's a lot of fashion. The stylists had a lot of liberty to play around with clothes, and there was no list of credits they had to follow or anything like that," the model said.

The magazine will feature appearances from major models including Abbey Lee Kershaw.

When asked if her perspective on sex has changed over the years, Rubik said, “No, not at all. I think sex is something really fun, and the more you speak about it, and people are open about it, the healthier it is. Any closure or keeping it secretive creates a lot of problems.

"[But sex] changes throughout the years as the position of women changes. Women are becoming more powerful, and they have a completely different position in society than back in the day — and also in sex. They can do what they want, instead of what’s expected of them. More and more women are starting to enjoy sex. And not so long ago, the approach to sex changed. In the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s, the approach was light and free and happy — soft, in a way. In the ‘80’s, it became very intense, and at the end of the ‘80’s it got very dangerous, with AIDS spreading. It changes throughout the years. But I really miss the approach of the ‘60’s and the ‘70’s,” she said.