Supermodel Cindy Crawford is one of the most recognizable faces in the world of fashion, and she has certainly made her mark there. But she is also reaching a personal milestone, turning 50 years old in February. And that, in combination with the release of her new book, Becoming, is reason to celebrate!
And I had an opportunity to chat with this down-to-earth mama about her modeling career, her family and life. In part one of our interview, she shared with me her most poignant professional moment, working with Taylor Swift and why she chose to release a book now. And in part two of our conversion, Cindy reveals how she stays looking so gorgeous, her guilty pleasures, how she empowers her kids and how she thinks social media has impacted the new generation of models.
Roxy: How do you do to stay so beautiful and so in shape?
Cindy: It’s all the stuff that we know. It’s just a matter of doing it. I talk about that with Meaningful Beauty. Because, sometimes you’re thirty years old and you think, I’m going to use this cream. And you might not see a difference in a week or a month, but you will over the course of years. The same with exercise. I also don’t take too much sun. I drink a lot of water. I sleep. It’s all boring. I don’t smoke. I eat healthy. All of those things are cumulative. I also think if you are happy in your life, doing work that you love and have meaningful relationships. All of that also shows on your face.
Roxy: Absolutely. So what is your guilty pleasure?
Cindy: In terms of food, I would definitely say chocolate without even having to think about it! And I have some guilty TV on my iPad when I’m flying.
Roxy: Will you watch Real Housewives?
Cindy: Not that guilty. My daughter and I are watching Empire right now.
Roxy: That is great show.
Cindy: Yes, it’s fun.
Roxy: And speaking of being a daughters, you are a multitasking working mom. You are balancing motherhood and a career. What advice would you give other moms that are trying to do the same?
Cindy: Look, we all try to do too much. And I think finding that perfect balance is really hard. Whether you work outside the house, inside the house, have kids, don’t have kids, we are all too busy. I think just some days you get it. Everything’s perfect. You’re like, ” I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.” And other days you drop the cupcakes as you’re walking out the door. Your kid is sick and you are late to work or wherever. But for me, what works is being organized and being punctual but then also understanding I can’t say yes to everything and being realistic about how much time or energy it takes. Sometimes people think, ” Oh, I can get there in fifteen minutes.” But really it’s twenty-five minutes. And then you’re late. And then your next thing’s late. Then your next thing’s late. I just can’t operate that way. It stresses me out.
Roxy: How do you empower your daughter, Kaia? Are there lessons you try to instill in her?
Cindy: I have been talking about this a lot lately; I feel like my kids, it’s not so much about what I say to them. It’s about them watching me and leading by example. So if I treat myself well, if I don’t put myself down, if I eat right, if I exercise. Those are the lessons my kids are getting more than what I say. And, someone once told me, ‘catch your kids being good.’ Recognize the positive things they do. For example, I say to Kaia, ‘Wow, even though your brother was irritating you, you were being really patient with him.’ Or to my son, ‘I saw how protective you were of Kaia and I really appreciate that.’ I compliment them on behaviors and catch them being good.
Cindy’s lookalike daughter, Kaia, on the cover of CR Fashion Book
Roxy: Your daughter, Kaia, is forging her own modeling career, and doing really well. Do you guide her on how to have a successful career?
Cindy: She will have to figure out how to model, the skill of modeling. I don’t think that is something you teach. I think, obviously she has been around me her whole life, so she has been around shoots and seen it. So maybe she’s not as intimidated as someone who hadn’t been around it. She is still only fourteen. She is still in her dance class and school. When opportunities do present themselves, I feel like she trusts my opinion. It’s not like, ‘Mom, you don’t know what I’m talking about.’ She knows that I do know what I’m talking about. And I’m like, ‘Kaia, slow down. It’s going to be there for you if you want to do it. And just enjoy being fourteen while your fourteen.’ But you know when Bruce Weber or Steven Meisel want to shoot you…
Roxy: Just do it!
Cindy: I feel like she can learn so much from them.
Roxy: Social media is so big right now, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. How do you think that this would have affected your modeling career? Starting out, you would have had all these social media channels. What advice would you give to the girls coming up now?
Cindy: I think it’s a great tool for young models to use. So many of them are way more expert at it than me because it’s second nature to them to connect to their audience. So I think it is great for models and I think that’s part of the reason you are seeing this new crop of supermodels because they are able to write their own press in a way. They can present themselves the way they want to be presented and show their personality. And I think that is what the audience is connecting to. Yes, of course they are beautiful. But they like seeing them not only flawless perfect on the runway. But also playing with their dog, sitting in bed with zit cream or things like that. We were able to do that a little with House of Style. But I think social media has just made it available for everybody.
Roxy: Well, thank you so much Cindy. It’s been great chatting with you.
Cindy: Thank you so much, Roxy. It was a pleasure!
