It’s hard to imagine Cindy Crawford – the most super of Supermodels – having an awkward teenage phase. But the 90’s icon has revealed that not only was she teased at high school, but that the behaviour stung so much that she now believes it might have spurred her on to her future successes in the fashion industry.
“I lived in a small town, and one day I got a call from one of the clothing stores in my town and they said it was the manager and they wanted to know if I would come in for a meeting because they were interested in me modelling for the store,” she told an audience at an Omega event in Shanghai, to celebrate the launch of the Swiss luxury house’s new Constellation watch.
“And I had never really thought about modelling before, I was like, “Oh my God, they’re calling me to model for them.” I put my hair in hot curlers, I borrowed my mum’s mascara or whatever, I went into the store and I was like, “I’m here for the modelling job.”
Cindy with fellow 90’s supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Their reply didn’t exactly match up with what Cindy was expecting. ‘The manager came up and she was like, “I don’t know who called you honey, we don’t have a modelling job,” she recalled. I was mortified and I went outside and two mean girls from my high school were standing down the street and they had called me, and they were watching this whole thing and they were laughing.”
As you might expect Cindy got the last laugh, though. “Cut to ten years later, my high school reunion, I was on the cover of Vogue, I had my MTV show, I walked in and I was like, “Hi girls.” So who knows, maybe without that…’ she trailed off. ‘It was hurtful, it was really a mean thing to do, but worked out okay.’
Of course, today Cindy has gone on to grace countless covers, catwalks – and also carve out a role as an actress. Her longstanding relationships with companies like Omega, for whom she has been a brand ambassador since 1995, have meant she’s consistently ranked one of the world’s most successful models.
Her 17-year-old daughter Kaia has followed in her footsteps, walking for Versace and Chanel’s SS19 shows – and even joining the group of Omega brand ambassadors too, fronting the Trésor watch.
Cindy and her lookalike daughter Kaia.
It’s not the only way Kaia is emulating her famous model mum; she’s also partial to borrowing Cindy’s vintage 90’s clothes.
“I have an old Azzedine Alaïa leather trench coat and she wasn’t like, “Oh mom, I’m borrowing your Alaïa,” it was like, “the Alaïa”. I’m like, “No, it’s my Alaïa, you are allowed to borrow it,” Cindy joked.
“It’s fun for her to go through some of my old stuff, like if she wants it, I’m like “Oh, I must have been cool if she wants it now.”
As for Cindy’s favourite look from the nineties? “My first Pepsi commercial, which was the Levi shorts and the white tank top,” she said.
Cindy’s classic 90’s Pepsi look.
“And when people do me for Halloween, that’s what they wear, and then just this big hair in a mull, and you have to carry a Pepsi can. But I think I’m so known for like Levi’s and a white T-shirt or a white shirt and the leather jacket; that kind of thing I would say is the most classic ‘Cindy’.”
And a very helpful idea for anyone looking for a last minute Halloween costume, too…
For Cindy’s most iconic magazine covers, click here.
