Christy Turlington on George Michael, Supermodels, and Advocacy within Fashion | Fashion Neurosis

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Christy Turlington Burns is the Founder and President of Every Mother Counts. Christy’s work in maternal health began after she experienced a childbirth-related complication in 2003—an experience that inspired her to direct and produce the documentary feature film, No Woman, No Cry, about the challenges women face throughout pregnancy and childbirth around the world. Under Christy’s leadership, over the past 15 years Every Mother Counts has invested nearly $50 million to support awareness raising, community-led solutions, and advocacy for systems change, with the goal of ensuring that the maternal health journey before, during, and after childbirth is safe, respectful, and equitable for everyone, everywhere. Before founding EMC, Christy received international acclaim as a model representing the world’s biggest fashion and beauty brands which she leveraged to become a health and wellness advocate. She authored a book about yoga, Living Yoga: Creating A Life Practice (Hyperion 2002), edited the book, Arrival Stories: Women Share Their Experiences of Becoming Mothers (Random House 2022) with Amy Schumer, and served as an executive producer for the 2023 Apple TV documentary series, The Super Models. In 2025, Christy was named to the inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list as one of the most influential people shaping the future of giving, and she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from New York University in 2023. Christy graduated Cum Laude from NYU’s Gallatin School of Independent Studies and studied Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She has completed 10 Marathons on behalf of Team EMC and lives in New York City. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Christy Turlington discuss being roommates with Naomi Campbell, whether George Michael had a crush on Linda Evangelista, and advocating for women’s health. Paid Substack subscribers get our weekly liner notes. This week: behind the scenes with Bella and Christy. Join us there if you’d like to explore the conversation further. https://fashionneurosis.substack.com/subscribe Painting by Malù dalla Piccola. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:22 What are you wearing today? 00:06:13 90s New York 00:10:01 Early modelling 00:16:35 Beauty as burden 00:25:23 Being a mother figure in the industry 00:29:30 Guardians in modelling and Kate Moss 00:33:26 Naomi Campbell as a roommate 00:36:25 Runway walking 00:43:43 Vivienne Westwood 00:51:22 Steven Meisel 00:56:28 Marc Jacobs and Supporting designers 01:00:12 Catwalk documentary 01:06:41 Naughtiness 01:09:52 If you fancy someone… 01:15:10 George Michael and Freedom ‘90 01:22:21 Every Mother Counts and Christy’s Birth story 01:32:20 Advocacy in Fashion 01:35:58 Outro