Icons of our time photographed by Rankin

THE AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE 

Marie Claire – October 2013

HELEN FIELDING

In a scene that could have come straight from one of her novels, Helen Fielding, the v v brilliant wordsmith behind the Bridget Jones’s Diary series (which began in 1995 as a newspaper column, sold 15 million books and inspired two films), has lost her bag of... Spanx. Rankin’s studio is turned upside down, the cab she came in is frantically searched and then the garments are found. By her chair.’ How Bridget of me!’ she says. And that’s the beauty of her fictional character. ‘If she has done anything to make women feel it’s OK just to muddle through and laugh at their imperfections, I’ll be happy—though still hoping to lose half a stone.’