In the face of controversy, Miranda talks exclusively about body image, diets and how even she has insecurities (just like the rest of us)

When we decided to shoot Miranda Kerr in a swimsuit, we had no idea it would hit headlines worldwide and spark a fevered debate about her size.

“Shockingly thin” said the UK’s Daily Mail, while The Daily Telegraph here declared she was “virtually unrecognisable” in paparazzi pictures taken from our day with her.

Click here for Grazia TV’s exclusive behind-the-scenes video with Miranda Kerr

Speculation focused on the theory that the 26-year-old lost a drastic amount of weight to fit into tiny sample size clothes for the Balenciaga show at Paris Fashion Week.

The truth? Certainly Miranda is slimmer than she was when she last sat down with us in August. But she still has an enviable figure – and a level-headed attitude to all the controversy.

“The exaggerated poses for the shoot have made me appear thinner than normal from behind, but I am the same weight and measurements I have maintained for more than three years,” she insists.

“I am conscious of not only maintaining but promoting a healthy lifestyle and I wouldn’t be able to sustain the hectic nature of my modelling commitments if I wasn’t 100 per cent committed to feeding my body the food, vitamins and minerals it needs.”

Behind-the-scenes shots of Miranda Kerr’s Grazia cover shoot

So, does she ever feel insecure about the way she looks?

“Every day I am changing and growing and nobody’s perfect. We all have our insecurities. That’s normal.”

But how does she cope with the constant pressure from the industry to be super-slim, especially for her Balenciaga debut, a label known for employing the thinnest of the thin?

“As women, we can’t compare ourselves because we’re each beautiful in our own unique way,” she says.

“And that’s what I’m passionate about – trying to encourage young women to embrace themselves – especially because I am in the fashion world and I really don’t want girls to think they have to look like me. I want them to nurture themselves and really be the best they can be.”

But the David Jones ambassador admits that her rising international profile is taking its toll.

As well as Miranda’s modelling commitments she is also launching her own organic skincare range, Kora (available exclusively at David Jones on October 26), and she’s written a book, due out later this year, about health and nutrition.

“I work six days a week, 15 hours a day – and that’s not a joke,” she says. “I’m generally in two different countries a week. And anyone else who had my schedule would probably fall apart. To be honest with you, it’s really, really intense. People don’t realise the extent of how hard I work, because they see it as just glitz and glamour. At the same time I am so grateful for it all, but it doesn’t give me a lot of downtime...”

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Miranda (above) wears Jets by Jessika Allen one-piece, $155 (David Jones, 13 33 57) and below in Speedo bodyskin, $400 (1800 023 807); Peter Lang earrings, $179, from a selection at David Jones (13 33 57). Photographs by Georges Antoni. Styling by Mark Vassallo.