I like fashion but I’m not a fashionista: Cindy Crawford

One of the best known faces of the ’90s, Cindy Crawford has, over the years, managed to stay relevant. While she states that she knows she’s no longer a 25-year-old, Cindy has continued to be a much sought-after figure for events and business ventures. Brand ambassador for a leading watch brand, a mother-of-two teenagers and a few months away from launching her own autobiographical book, Cindy manages to keep herself busy. Here, the beauty lets us in on her life. 

KEEPING TIME
The supermodel is in the city to celebrate her 20-year association with luxury watch brand OMEGA. She explains, “I’ve been with them for over 20 years now. I always say that’s longer than I’ve been married to my husband. I think that one of the great things about my relationship with the brand; that it started traditionally, as I was just this model, did pictures and events for them. My last trip to India with them, I was riding elephants and I got to go for the Beijing Olympics and then most recently, the eye hospital in Peru. So OMEGA has allowed me to evolve. I’m a model and a mother, businesswoman. They’ve let me evolve. They embrace what I bring to the table.”

ON HER PLANS IN INDIA
Cindy has travelled with her two children Presley and Kaia and hopes to squeeze in as much as she can in the city despite the rainy weather. “We had a lot of things planned but I don’t know if the weather will cooperate. I wanted to take the kids to the Dharavi slums. And then we had the Elephanta caves planned. I don’t want to just come and be in the hotel and leave. It’s not like they get to see India often, I want them to at least get a taste. I like to watch TV shows like the Game of Thrones. My son and I watch it. In fact, the Gateway of India looks like the temple of The Many-Faced God.” she says. When it comes to Bollywood though, Cindy has seen bits of some films, but admits she’s more into books than movies. “I don’t watch a lot of TV, I am a big reader. So of course I have seen some films, you can’t help but see some. (Bollywood) is so big in the world. I’ve seen a few on the airplane, but I don’t really know the names,” she adds. 

ADVICE FOR HER DAUGHTER
The star’s 13-year-old look-alike daughter Kaia has already started making baby steps into the world of modelling.  A few years back, she did a campaign for young Versace and is touted to be a face to look out for. Cindy insists she’s still quite young.  “I’m letting her do a few little things to start with. Fortunately, I think she respects the career that I have. Right now she is still in school. She just did a shoot and the editor asked her if there was any advice that her mom gave her. And she gave an answer, so I knew she was listening. I had told her when you look at the camera, just don’t have a blank stare. To have a thought in your head. You don’t have to share it. I think what’s interesting is that you want to know there’s a real person in the thought. I see some models that are beautiful but are blank. So Kaia told that to the editor and I was glad she was listening,” she adds. 

AGEING GRACEFULLY
Though age seems to have evaded her, Cindy will be celebrating a milestone birthday next February. The model will turn 50. And to commemorate the occasion she will be launching a book Becoming, later this year. While the original idea was 50 iconic photos with 50 essays, it has since evolved into a larger project. “The book has about 150 images, some that haven’t been published before like when I was just starting to model in Chicago all the way up until recent pictures. Photographers Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Steven Meisel — all the greats in my opinion and then the essays, lessons I’ve learnt. Taking chances, learning to say no, how I feel about ageing, becoming a mother all these things. Even though I’ve learnt these lessons, in my world which is the fashion world, the lessons are universal. I wrote it in such a way hoping that the women who’ve been my fans for years, that they could share it with their daughters. There’s a bit of nudity in there, but I kept it such that I could give it to my own children,” explains Cindy. 

CHANGING FASHION INDUSTRY
She ruled the runways in the ’90s, but since then the fashion industry has undergone many changes. However, despite her glam image Cindy insists she is not a fashionista. “I like fashion, but I’m not a fashionista. I think that sometimes when you’re not working you just want to be in a pair of jeans and T-shirt. I live in Malibu, so that’s the style out there,” adding that there are two main changes that she’s noticed in the industry.  “I think a lot of it has a lot to do with Anna Wintour, when she came to US Vogue. She started putting more actresses and celebrities on the covers and I don’t know if it’s good or bad — it is just the way it is. Which I think made it harder for models to have the cosmetic contracts — in order to have that, now you have to be a singer or an actor. In a way that was bad for models, but great for celebrities. Models weren’t able to get the big jobs. The thing that is incredible that’s happening is social media. Earlier, models were just two-dimensional, they didn’t have a voice. Social media has really allowed models like Coco Rocha and Cara Delevingne to have a personality and a voice. I think that’s helping, because models are becoming more like celebrities in their own fashion world. Fashion just keeps getting more huge. I mean look at Kim Kardashian. Who knows what will happen next but I think it’s a unique opportunity for models to connect with their audience.” 

GIVING BACK
Aside from her work and family life, Cindy tries to spend some time in giving back. Recently she was in Peru where she visited the Flying Eye Hospital by Orbis, a NGO that works to eliminate avoidable blindness. “I’ve always wanted to go to Peru and see Machu Picchu and my daughter and I thought it would be the highlight of the trip. It was amazing, but then we got to go to Trujillo, which is where the eye hospital is, and spending time with the doctors, volunteers, nurses, plus the patients — it was incredible. That was the highlight. For my daughter, it just made such a big impression on her. We take it for granted, in the United States anyway, you have an eye problem you just go to a doctor and get it taken care of. There, it’s a privilege. And just for her to see how lives can be changed. That 80 per cent of the world’s blindness is preventable. It’s just a great experience for us... We spent the whole day with these girls who were waiting for their surgery. The next day we came back and they had the bandages taken of. This one little girl didn’t want to open her eyes and when she did, I was the first person she saw. She just went, ‘Ah!’ It was just so heartwarming. You can’t get that reaction unless you really spend the time and are caring,” ends Cindy.