Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley says women can gain power through their intimates - particularly the underwear model says lingerie purchases can be empowering.

The 25-year-old model - who has previously fronted campaigns for Marks & Spencer and Burberry - thinks of lingerie as the ''ultimate'' feminine purchase and believes the near-nude photo shoots to promote the intimates are designed for women, not men.

Was that her plan to feel more empowered as a sexy woman?

She said in an interview: ''It wasn't a plan. It's just naturally my look, I guess. I felt empowered doing lingerie shoots.

''Lingerie is the ultimate feminine buy and I love the feeling it gives women, the empowerment. I love that it's from women only and men afterwards.''

Rosie has been working in fashion since she was a teenager, and admits she sometimes looks back at her old pictures and cringes about how she looked.

She said: ''I've been so lucky and worked with fantastic clients and fantastic brands. But when I look at pictures of me when I was 16 I think, 'What was I thinking?' Not that it works every time nowadays either, believe me!

''It's usually when you haven't loved something from the beginning then a bunch of people try to tell you it's right. You should always trust your gut.''

© Bang Showbiz