Here we interview one of Britain's greatest artists of today, Tracey Emin. Find out more at: http://www.marksandspencer.com/MS-TV/b/311612031?intid=emtv_2_464_2602453619001 Twelve seemingly very different women from diverse backgrounds and professions represent the very best of British, the perfect ambassadors to present our new M&S; autumn/winter collections. These women all possess intelligence, the confidence to succeed and innate personal style. From the physical strength and dedication of athletes and dancers, the honed skills of entertainers, the imagination of creative visionaries and the tireless campaigners, these women are pioneers in their fields. With that in mind, who better to photograph them than Annie Leibovitz, known for her era-defining work. Welcome to our new autumn/winter campaign. "So Tracey how would you describe yourself? I've got a dark look, I've got a heavy brow. I've got a crooked smile. Really, really, really dark brown eyes. I've got quite elegant hands and I have a very loud laugh. Since so much of your actual work, your art, is autobiographical how much are you actually part of your art and is that reflected in how you dress yourself at all? I think there is a kind of Tracey-ness about how I do things and how I dress, and part of this Marks and Spencer thing for me that was really important was that I had to look like me, because I think it is so important to feel and look yourself, and I think women get in a mess when they have been forced or pushed to dress in a way that they don't want to dress. A lot of women wear shoes and they can't walk in them I wear high shoes maybe once or twice a week, the rest of the time I have to be practical, because I want to be able to run and move fast. That's more important to me than someone thinking my shoes look good. When I say to you M&S;, what do you think of? I think of the cashmere cardigans that I buy every winter, my favourite colour is the navy blue one, then I try to get the ones that are weird colours that you can get really cheap, the colours that nobody else wanted. I was just wondering when that little girl realised she was going to be an artist? 1997, when I went to my opening at the South London gallery. It was when I realised I could do it. You can have ambition, you can have desire, you can have wanting, only when it actually comes to you and meets you do you realise it's actually possible. Do you take pride in being a role model for other women? When I got my CBE, what was brilliant about it was that for me it was like the establishment was saying well done you've achieved something, not the same route that everyone else would take but nevertheless we are not going to penalise you for it. It means that people that feel outside of society can identify with me and see that there is another way of doing things." Find out more about our Leading Ladies at: http://www.marksandspencer.com/Britains-Leading-Ladies-Preview-Womens/b/3147215031

• published: 02 Sep 2013
• views: 107