Cindy Crawford: see how she changed over the years

Cindy Crawford, born on February 20, 1966 in DeKalb, Illinois, was part of the legendary group of supermodels who revolutionized fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. More than 30 years later, her name is still iconic.

What not everyone knows is that Cindy Crawford's arrival in fashion was fortuitous. The model was supposed to go and study chemical engineering at university with a scholarship. The summer before entering college, she decided to go to Europe to work as a model and make some money for her studies. It was supposed to be just this one summer...

Cindy Crawford would never set foot in the university. Together with Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Claudia Schiffer, among others, she would form an iconic generation of supermodels.

Starting her career at the age of 17, Cindy Crawford became initially known as Baby Gia. She got that name because of her resemblance to the legendary American model Gia Carangi. However, soon enough, Cindy Crawford would surpass the status of 'big' Gia.

Cindy Crawford was already used to the long hours of modeling. As a teenager, she had spent her summers working in the cornfields of her hometown, DeKalb, Illinois. Her days had been up to 10 hours long, cleaning cornfields, and pouring fertiliser.

From the cornfields of Illinois, Cindy Crawford went on to become one of the greatest models in history. One of her records was that she posed on more than 600 magazines. They included Vogue, Elle, Allure, Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire.

The mistake she almost made was to remove the characteristic mole she has next to her lip. Her identity mark was a source of ridicule at school and in some photo shoots it was completely covered up. This is how she came to consider removing it but, in the end, she listened to her mother and kept it.

Her appearance on the cover of Vogue banished the mole debate forever.

Cindy Crawford's impact on the world was such that, in 1992, Norwegian authorities had to remove posters with the model's image from their public roads. The reason was that the top model's image caused an increase in traffic accidents of 300%. Urban legend? Maybe, but it makes for a beautiful story.

Romantically, Cindy Crawford has always done great. She was married to Richard Gere between 1991 and 1995. The actor and the model formed one of the most iconic couples of the 90s.

The day Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford met will go down in showbiz history as the day Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford met. It was at the home of photographer Herb Ritts, where the model and Ritts were reviewing a photo shoot she had done without any clothes on. At that moment Richard Gere walked in and met the model both with and without clothing. They were together for six years from that moment.

Curiously, neither paparazzi, nor colleagues, nor people she had to work with annoyed Cindy Crawford. She was always very easygoing. What did bother her, she confessed on more than one occasion, was people whispering when they saw her in the street. "I'd rather they came up to me and said 'hi'."

It wasn't all rosy for Cindy Crawford. Her time in the world of cinema could not have been more catastrophic. Her career as an actress hit rock bottom with 'Fair Game' (1995) alongside William Baldwin, which the San Francisco Examiner called "the dumbest movie of the year." It cost $50 million and grossed $11.5 million worldwide.

Three years later, in 1998, the model married Rande Gerber, a well-known nightclub impresario and former model. The couple married in the Bahamas, where Cindy Crawford showed up in a wedding dress that looked like a jumper. "I got all dolled up with the idea of achieving the best version of the girl Rande loves to wake up to every day," she said. And she succeeded.

The couple had two children, the boy Presley (1999) and the girl Kaia (2001). From the beginning of the 21st century, we could see Cindy Crawford more often as a caring mom than as a luscious and glamorous model.

Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber are in love to this day. Their marriage has lasted more than two decades, which is remarkable in showbiz.

Among her scarce public appearances in the past two decades have been some charitable projects. Cindy Crawford lost her brother to leukemia when she was ten years old. For that reason, she's especially interested in helping organizations that research cures and treatments for childhood leukemia.

She also published and promoted her book, 'Becoming' by Cindy Crawford, in 2015. It detailed her life story and memories of the supermodel days, and it also contained photos. Understandably, the book was a New York Times bestseller.

Apart from that, she occasionally models for a magazine cover or campaign.

Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber sometimes appear on red carpets with their children. As the kids are now pursuing their own modeling careers, Presley and Kaia often draw the spotlights.

Kaia is following in her mother's footsteps and has become the visible face of a new generation of fashion icons.

Kaia Gerber has inherited her mother's elegance and charisma, but she has something all of her own that is triumphing on the catwalks.

Meanwhile, Presley Gerber (here with his sister) is also an acclaimed model, although his rebellious attitude is giving his mother more than a headache.

Not only has he tattooed the word 'misunderstood' on his cheek, something that may limit his work as an actor or model, but PageSix has also reported that the young man had to go into rehab as part of a DUI sanction.

The stress of motherhood and the passing of time have not affected any of Cindy Crawford's youthful beauty.

She has not made it a secret that she at times uses vitamine injections and Botox to correct her appearance a little.

The model still gets many offers to return to the catwalks, as she did in September 2017 when the Versace fashion show at Milan Fashion Week brought her together with Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen and Naomi Campbell. It was historic.

The model's day-to-day life is portrayed on Instagram. Despite her age, she's a modern woman who updates her profile regularly.

Picture: @cindycrawford / Instagram

Cindy Crawford has reached over 5 million followers by now. Still, let's never forget that she continues to be a supermodel.

In this picture, she is at the Runway of Paris Fashion Week, Womenswear F/W 2022-2023.