Marissa Mayer finally opened up to Charlie Rose about that Vogue September issue photo shoot at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s MIXX conference in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Posed upside down on a chaise lounge in a blue Michael Kors dress and stilettos, Mayer become the subject of a heated debate about whether the image worked or undermined her powerful role as a CEO.
While she says she didn’t read the story, “I did see the photographs,” adding, “it was a nice photo.” Mayer, described by Mashable as “clearly embarrassed,” explained that she was given the option of a black or blue dress, but since she never wears black she went with the Michael Kors.
When it came time for the actual shoot, at first Mayer posed simply sitting on the chaise. “[The photographer] said, ‘This is not going to work at all … Would you try kind of going upside down?’ I said, ‘Will it look good?’ and he told me not to worry,” Mayer said.