CLEO celebrates 40 years

Four decades and 480 issues later, the latest, with Khloe Kardashian-Odom on the cover, includes a retrospective of CLEO’s most iconic covers, a look back at the infamous nude male centrefold and insight into how Australian society has changed for women, from some high-profile Australians including founding editor Buttrose.

"It seemed like everything was changing in the ’70s and CLEO reflected this new way of thinking," Buttrose tells the magazine.

"Feminists like Germaine Greer encouraged us to seek equality. Women suddenly realised we were as good as men. While hard-line feminists burned bras, lots of women just wanted to make the most of their talents and combine marriage and a career."

CLEO has seen huge changes since its launch but also remained true to its original philosophy, says current editor Gemma Crisp.

"It’s bizarre to think that when CLEO first launched, women had to drink in a separate area to men in a bar and needed their husband’s permission to get a store charge card! We’ve come a long way since then, but CLEO is still about empowering women in all aspects of their life. It’s an iconic Australian brand and I think our readers will get a kick out of looking back through the archives in the December issue."

The launch of CLEO in 1972 was the subject of a two-part series that aired on the ABC last year called Paper Giants: The Birth of CLEO starring Asher Keddie as Buttrose and Rob Carlton as Kerry Packer.

CLEO’s 40th birthday issue also includes a $70,000 giveaway and a modern take on the nude centrefold – you’ll never guess who it is!

Online, don’t miss the CLEO team’s birthday party playlist thanks to Spotify and a look back at our funniest ever cover lines.

40 years of CLEO: iconic covers