Once a fixture of congressional hearings and tabloid covers, Monica Lewinsky is now the face of fashion brand Reformation’s latest ad campaign, urging fans to vote in this year’s elections.
An email blast sent out to customers Monday featured Lewinsky in a bright red skirt suit with matching tights and heels, her arms folded across her chest in a power pose. The ad copy reads, simply: “Monica f*cking Lewinsky.”
A spread of other photos on the company’s website links to Vote.org, a website that helps users register to vote. It is the brand’s third collaboration with the non-profit, and Reformation’s chief creative officer Lauren Cohan told Elle that Lewinsky was a natural choice.
“I was like, ‘Whoa, this woman is incredibly funny and smart and also a Ref babe,’” she told the magazine of Lewinsky’s viral TED Talk on public shaming. “And that was the bullseye.”
Lewinsky, 50, said she was compelled to participate by the message of the campaign. “We’ve seen in polls that voter frustration is up and apathy is up,” she told Elle. “We all have to be reminding each other that we can’t let that get in the way of needing to vote, that that’s how we use our voice.”
Once pilloried for her affair with Bill Clinton while she was a White House intern, Lewinsky has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, thanks in part to her whip-smart Twitter account and to shifting views of the power imbalances inherent in her relationship with the then-president.
Lewinsky has since made a name for herself as an anti-bullying activist, co-producing an HBO documentary on online shaming and writing powerfully for outlets like Vanity Fair about her own experience with the subject. In a recent interview with journalist Taylor Lorenz in The Guardian, she described herself as “patient zero of losing my reputation online,” but also heralded the “empowerment” that social media provides women “by having a voice and a presence.”
She told Elle she is still wary of online harassment, despite her newfound popularity. “I am a huge, huge proponent of blocking,” she said of her social media usage. “You want to say something, that’s your prerogative. I don’t have to listen to you.”
But she has little to worry about when it comes to the internet’s response to her campaign.
“Monica Lewinsky x Reformation is fabulous,” tweeted culture writer Emily Sundber.
“Okayyyy @MonicaLewinsky. Werk,” added designer Jill Spaeth.
“reformation featuring monica lewinsky in their ad campaign was not in my 2024 bingo card,” tweeted one surprised user, adding: “to be fair she kinda ate.”
