Cindy Crawford: All American Beauty

Cindy Crawford is known as one of the most beautiful women in the world, but nowadays instead of prancing down the catwalk as a model, she prefers to be a mother to her two children Presley and Kaia and a wife to her husband Rande.  Although she still maintains her “sexiness,” she’s living a very lowkey lifestyle. Known for her “all-american” face and beauty mark, Crawford has been on the cover of several thousand magazine covers like Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Bazaar and Allure. They say beauty is only skin deep, but it is quite evident that Crawford’s beauty goes way beyond what our eyes observe. 

This Midwesterner got her start in the fashion and modeling industry in the mid 80s, when she was in high school in her hometown of Dekalb, Illinois. When she was just 17 years old she became a finalist in Elite Model Management’s “Look of the Year” competition. Before her career took off as a world famous supermodel, Crawford studied chemical engineering at Northwestern University. Crawford to this day hasn’t allowed being a “superstar” get to her head. She doesn’t place herself on a high pedestal because she feels like she’s just like everyone else.

“I always say even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford! What people see on magazine covers is one moment that was perfect — the wind, the light, the hair, the makeup. That’s a two-hour process. People get excited that they’re meeting the Cindy Crawford from the Playboy spread 13 years ago, and I am a mother of two now. I have to check in with myself. It’s good to have an awareness of that outside pressure; I can’t let it get to my core. I love my life,” said Crawford in Red Book Magazine. In Crawford’s eyes, everyone is beautiful.  She told Parade Magazine, “I think if people are passionate about something, it could be real estate or biochemistry, and that spark gets turned on in them, everyone’s beautiful in that zone.”  

After moving to Manhattan in 1986, she became a part of the Elite New York Modeling agency. Her career took off as she graced the cover of magazines and was the face of many fashion campaigns for those like Versace and Escada. Crawford has been in several television commercials and films. She was the host of MTV’s House of Style from 1989-1995. She also teamed up with Pepsi and was apart of several commercials.“I did my first commercial with Pepsi almost 20 years ago, and as my life changed, I’ve continued working with them, but in different ways. When I was in my 30s, we moved to Diet Pepsi, and then they recognized the health and fitness aspect of what I’m about now, so they came to me with Propel Zero,” she said in an interview with Parade Magazine.

Throughout her career as a supermodel, Crawford has been ranked as one of the worlds’ sexiest people on a consistent basis by Playboy Magazine, Shape Magazine and Maxim Magazine. Now she’s into home interior decorating, Crawford has two home collections called Cindy Crawford Home Collection and Cindy Crawford Style. “I remember when my older sister moved out and I had a room all to myself. I had this random rug that my great uncle had made from carpet scraps that I thought was very cool. I took one of my first paychecks from working at a store after school and bought wallpaper — peach with little flowers on it. Then I got a peach bedspread and pillows and peach curtains and mini blinds. Everything was bought with everything else in mind,” she said in an interview with Red Book Magazine. 

 Cindy Crawford Style is available at JCPenney which is very affordable to those who don’t like to empty their wallets completely when shopping. In Red Book Magazine she said: “”In fashion, you can’t be too classic. Black stilettos or a trench coat are classic, but traditional is like Margaret Thatcher. To me those words are not interchangeable. So we are trying to incorporate fashion concepts into the home. When I was in high school, my legs were so long that all my jeans were like floods. To me, having pants that have a break feels luxurious. That’s how I approach window coverings. I don’t like curtains that look like floods; I want a puddle of fabric on the floor. Another example I use is that the Indigo Dreams comforter is like blue jeans for the bed. It’s soft, it’s easy, and it goes so well with everything.”

Although you don’t see Crawford around as much, she is very well content with the life she has created for herself with her brand and with her family. She has recognized the importance of helping others. Crawford’s brother died when he was only four years old from leukemia, a form of cancer. Childhood leukemia has become an important focus when it comes to charity work for the supermodel. Crawford is also a supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

-Markysha Cannon