Created from home, through my lens
At forty, Irina Shayk turns the camera on herself — literally — in a self-shot campaign for Italian brand Haikure, posted quietly to Instagram from her own home. The gesture is small but telling: a model who once waited for the world's attention now architects it herself, choosing intimacy over production, authorship over assignment. It is a portrait not merely of a woman in black pants on a leather couch, but of how image-making and self-determination have quietly merged in the modern economy of visibility.
- A model at the height of her cultural currency shoots her own campaign at home, bypassing studios, agencies, and traditional gatekeepers entirely.
- The images land on Instagram with a caption claiming creative ownership — 'through my lens' — signaling that the product being sold is as much her perspective as her body.
- Followers respond with familiar admiration, but the commercial logic underneath has shifted: Shayk is now simultaneously talent, photographer, and creative director.
- The Haikure collaboration arrives as a quiet disruption to fashion's old hierarchy, where established models waited for assignments rather than initiating them.
- At forty, with nearly two decades of runway credits and a Sports Illustrated cover behind her, Shayk demonstrates that longevity in modeling now runs through self-sovereignty on social media.
Irina Shayk posted self-shot photographs to Instagram this week as part of a new collaboration with Haikure, an Italian fashion brand. In one image, she stands on a brown leather couch, arms crossed across her bare chest, wearing black pants that layered leather over denim. Her caption — "Created from home, through my lens" — was a deliberate declaration: this was not a polished studio production, but something intimate and self-directed.
The post followed a familiar pattern for Shayk's social media presence, where images of her body draw predictable waves of admiration and reinforce her commercial value. Earlier in June, photographs from a trip to Spain had generated similar responses. But the Haikure campaign carried a different weight — it was framed as her creation, not merely her appearance.
Shayk's career stretches back to the early 2000s, with her breakthrough arriving in 2007 as the face of lingerie brand Intimissimi. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit appearances followed, culminating in a cover in 2011 — a moment she recalled vividly, describing a stranger who stopped her on the street at ten at night, carrying a bag of magazines from New Jersey, asking for her signature. The cover had made her recognizable in a way that changed ordinary life.
High fashion followed: runways for Versace, Givenchy, and Vivienne Westwood. Her personal life drew its own public interest, including a four-year relationship with actor Bradley Cooper that produced a daughter, Lea, before ending in 2019.
Now at forty, Shayk operates in a media landscape she largely controls herself. The Haikure collaboration is less a campaign than a demonstration — of what it looks like when an established model negotiates directly with brands, shoots her own work, and curates her own visibility. She is not simply the product being sold. She is also the one deciding how, and when, and from what angle it is offered.
Irina Shayk posted a series of photographs to Instagram this week that she had shot herself at home, part of a new collaboration with Haikure, an Italian fashion brand. In one image, she stands on a brown leather couch, arms crossed protectively across her chest, wearing nothing above the waist and a pair of black pants that layered leather over denim. The 40-year-old model captioned the post simply: "Created from home, through my lens @haikure.studio." It was a deliberate choice to frame the work as her own creation—not a polished studio production, but something intimate and self-directed.
The campaign arrived as Shayk continues to command attention on social media, where her followers respond predictably to images of her body. Earlier in June, she had posted photographs from a trip to Spain that included a shot in a revealing black bikini, drawing comments from fans calling her beautiful. The Haikure photos followed the same pattern: admiration in the comments, recognition of her status as a figure whose image carries commercial weight.
Shayk's career has spanned nearly two decades. She began modeling in the early 2000s and achieved her breakthrough in 2007 when she became the face of Intimissimi, a lingerie brand. That visibility led to multiple appearances in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue starting that same year, culminating in a cover in 2011. She remembered the moment vividly in an interview with Forbes that August, describing how strangers began approaching her on the street. A man had once stopped her while she was walking her dog with wet hair at ten in the evening, carrying a bag full of magazines from New Jersey, asking for her signature. The cover had transformed her from a working model into a recognizable figure.
From there, she moved into high fashion, walking runways for Versace, Givenchy, and Vivienne Westwood. Her professional trajectory was steady and ascending. Her personal life also drew public interest: in 2015, she began dating actor Bradley Cooper, and the two made their red carpet debut together at Paris Fashion Week in March 2016. They had a daughter, Lea, in 2017, but the relationship ended in June 2019 after four years together.
Now, at forty, Shayk operates in a different media landscape than the one that made her famous. She controls her own image distribution through Instagram, shooting her own work, writing her own captions, and managing her own brand partnerships. The Haikure collaboration is a demonstration of that shift—a model of a certain age and established reputation negotiating directly with brands, using her platform and her eye rather than waiting for assignments from agencies or publications. The self-shot nature of the campaign is not incidental; it is part of the pitch. She is not just the product being sold. She is also the photographer, the creative director, the curator of her own visibility.
Notable Quotes
It's one of the most important things that can happen to a model in her career. People now recognize me on the street.— Irina Shayk, on her 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, speaking to Forbes
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that she shot these photos herself? Couldn't any brand hire a photographer?
It signals control. She's not just a body being positioned by someone else's vision. She's saying: I know how to present myself, I know what works, I don't need you to tell me how to look.
But isn't that just marketing language? The photos still exist to sell pants.
Sure. But there's a real shift underneath. Twenty years ago, a model's power came from being chosen—by photographers, by magazines, by casting directors. Now it comes from choosing yourself, and having an audience that follows you directly.
Does the toplessness matter, or is that just what gets attention?
Both. It's provocative, yes. But it's also honest about what her brand is. She's never hidden her body. The question is whether she's using it or being used by it. The self-shot framing suggests the former.
What happens to models like her as they get older?
They either disappear or they adapt. Shayk adapted. She became a personality, not just a face. The Haikure campaign is her saying: I'm still relevant, I'm still in control, and I'm still worth paying attention to.