Charli XCX brands marriage ‘casual’ as she debuts steamy Playboy cover

Charli XCX has made her most daring move yet as the cover girl for Playboy.

The 365 Party Girl poses on the cover with her legs against a headboard, wearing just her black underwear and some high heels, with her head tilted back.

The rest of the shoot sees Charli, 34, in lacy corset lingerie and a sheer nightgown-thong combination that would make even pin-up-inspired Sabrina Carpenter blush.

One snap sees her with her mouth open, holding her face, in an incredibly close-up picture stylised to look like a 90s VHS tape.

‘I feel sexy in underwear, and I feel sexy in a fully tailored suit,’ Charli told the outlet. ‘When I feel sexy, I feel confident. Sex, sexuality, and confidence are all very sacred things to me. If I could feel them on the max, all the time, then I would.’

Charli, who released the song Playboy Bunny earlier this year, said she’s most confident while on stage or with her husband George Daniel, 36.

The couple are ‘casual and relaxed’ about their marriage, an ethos in line with her cool girl persona, she told Kylie Jenner in the interview.

‘It means a lot to us, but also at the same time, it’s like we could completely do without it, and we kind of would be as equally in love if we weren’t married,’ she said.

‘It fits, but it’s not like a high-pressure kind of a word for me.’

Charli’s Playboy debut comes after she declared in June that it was the end of Brat summer with a nearly nude snap, promising ‘something horny’ was on the way.

She then released her seventh studio album, Music, Fashion, Film, on July 24, featuring a different sound and aesthetic to her previous bright green era.

Her ‘horny’ era comes as Playboy has rebranded and promised a more ‘inclusive’ version of the once controversial magazine.

The quarterly print has so far featured Karol G and Cara Delevingne, with Charli marking the third cover girl in this new phase.

Model Cara, 33, wore a black latex corset and nothing else for her cover, with just a strategically placed hand hiding anything too scandalous.

In her interview, she discussed the ‘very heterosexual institution’ that is the bunny brand, having donned some ears and a tail for other snaps.

‘That’s why it felt like a bit of a rebellious thing to do, and to have an incredible female-led creative team—a lot of them being queer—felt really fun and different,’ she said.

Cara, who revealed she now labels herself as a lesbian in May, also shared how she is ‘sex sober’ after years of partying.

‘I used to put a higher value on sex and validation from people. I used to think, “Oh, I’m a pervert. I’m a really horny person”,’ she said.

‘But I think [I was] seeking love and validation through sex’.

Phillip Picardi, who is the new Editor-in-chief, made a distinction between Playboy and porn, saying the 73-year-old brand is about ‘portraying the art of desire’.

He explained: ‘There’s always been a difference between Playboy and porn, especially the kinds of porn that are really prevalent today and that people have access to just by having a Twitter account or a Reddit account… and so I actually found the challenge of bringing back an artfulness and a thoughtfulness to nudity to be super exciting as a creative.’

In this new era, Playmates and cover stars are given full control over how much of their body they want to show and are involved in the creative process.

Charli’s Playboy issue will hit stands on September 29.