Lily Cole on the Playboy cover
Marks and Spencer have defended Lily Cole after her naked shoot for the French Playboy.
Gorgeous Lily is a new signing for the high-street store, who hired her to front their Limited Collection range.
"Lily Cole is a popular, high-profile model who is very much in demand," a spokesperson for the brand told Sky News. "This is one the key reasons we have chosen to work with her. It's entirely her own choice as to what other work she accepts and we would not wish to interfere with her career."
Cole's 14-page spread was perhaps a surprise choice for the intellectual model, who is studying at Cambridge this year. She insists however, that she took on the shoot in the name of art.
In an interview which accompanies the photos, the 20-year-old insists: "Nudity has always existed in art and I think that, given the right conditions, it doesn't necessarily 'debase' anymore than it celebrates or represents the human body."