Inside the glamorous lives & fame of Vogue’s original supermodels Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington & Naomi Campbell
THEY were the original supermodels who got plastered on billboards all over the world.
Now Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell are back on the cover of Vogue, just like they were in 1990 with Tatjana Patitz, who died of breast cancer in January.
The photoshoot marks next month’s release of the docu-series The Super Models on Apple TV+.
Rod McPhee looks at the four fashion icons’ lives.
NAOMI CAMPBELL
- Age: 53
- Net worth: £65million
HIGHS: Becoming a mother for the first time aged 50 when she welcomed her baby daughter. Her son, conceived via surrogate, arrived two years later.
LOWS: Four convictions for assault as a result of her fiery temper.
THE British model is perhaps better known for her strops than catwalk struts.
In 2000, she pleaded guilty to assaulting her personal assistant with a mobile phone.
She also entered a guilty plea in 2010 after her personal assistant claimed Naomi threatened to throw her from a moving car and hit her over the head with a telephone in a hotel room.
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The fiery beauty, who grew up in Streatham, South London, was given 200 hours’ community service and fined £2,300 in 2008 after kicking and spitting at cops over a row about lost luggage.
A court in Sicily sentenced her to six months’ probation in 2015 for whacking a photographer with her handbag.
Her love life is equally colourful, having dated actor Robert De Niro, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and guitar legend Eric Clapton.
She has never been married but is now the mother of two children, a girl and a boy, the second of which was conceived via a surrogate. Naomi’s modelling career started when she was 15, landing her first cover at 16 for British Vogue before posing for designers including Versace, Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Lauren.
She starred in US drama Empire from 2015 to 2018, as well as the fifth series of American Horror Story.
Naomi was a coach and judge on two seasons of the modelling talent show The Face, also hosting the British version for one series, and in 2020 she launched her No Filter With Naomi web series to interview models and designers.
LINDA EVANGELISTA
- Age: 58
- Net worth: £30m
HIGHS: Was once so in demand, she famously quipped she wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000.
LOWS: Forced into hiding after a fat-decreasing procedure left her face permanently deformed.
FAMOUS for her red hair and fronting more than 700 magazine covers, Linda’s shocking transformation left the fashion world stunned after she returned to the industry last year.
The supermodel had to use tape to pull back her jaw and neck during the photo-shoot following a botched cosmetic procedure.
She had spent six years away from the spotlight dealing with the aftermath, which Linda also claimed left “bulges” all over her body.
At 16, she got her big break when she caught the attention of Elite Model Management, but she briefly quit the business after being forced to go nude against her will at a photoshoot in Japan.
Canada-born Linda recalled: “It was a nightmare and I panicked and basically the Canadian Embassy helped me out.
“I was there about two days and went home, saying, ‘I don’t want anything to do with this ever again’.”
She went on to feature in runway shows for brands including Chanel, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren, becoming one of the biggest catwalk stars on the planet.
Linda was married to the boss of Elite Model Management, Gerald Marie, between 1987 and 1993, and later dated former Manchester United and France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
She gave birth to her only child in 2006, but the identity of the father was kept secret until a high-profile child support case in 2011 revealed French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault was the boy’s dad.
CINDY CRAWFORD
- Age: 57
- Net worth: £180m
HIGHS: Regarded as an “honorary mum” to Harry Styles after he befriended her two kids, son Presley, 24, and daughter Kaia, 21. The singer has even holidayed with the Crawfords in Canada, while also regularly visiting their Malibu pad.
LOWS: Husband Rande Gerber was accused of sexual harassment by two of his former female employees, who also claimed they were sacked for rejecting his advances when they worked at a restaurant he owned. He denied all the allegations.
GIRL-next-door Cindy could still get away with adorning teenagers’ bedroom walls, despite being in her late fifties.
Famous for the mole above her upper lip, the US-born catwalk queen used her modelling profile as the launch pad for skincare line Meaningful Beauty, a brand now worth £320million of which she owns 50 per cent.
Cindy also launched her own furniture range and co-owns a Hollywood deli.
She quit modelling in 2000 and admits to having Botox and vitamin injections.
Her daughter Kaia, from her second marriage to Rande Gerber, is following in her footsteps on the runway, winning Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2017 and posing for brands including Calvin Klein and Burberry.
She posed alongside her mum on the cover of Vogue Paris in 2016.
Cindy began modelling at 17 and during her Nineties heyday was a cover star for fashion magazines including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
Her four-year marriage to Richard Gere ended in 1995 and she was previously linked to Batman star Val Kilmer.
She also launched a number of exercise videos as well as appearing in the movies Fair Game in 1995 and The Simian Line in 2001.
Christy Turlington
- Age: 54
- Net worth: £30m
HIGHS: Love of wellness and fitness have helped retain her good looks as the modelling career continues to thrive.
LOWS: Being diagnosed with early stage emphysema.
CHRISTY ventured into the boardroom and excelled at business as her catwalk career began to slow down.
During the Noughties, the US model launched her own skincare line Sundari, two collaborations with sportswear brand Puma, plus a women’s yoga-wear company.
In 2010 she launched her non-profit foundation Every Mother Counts, which aims to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for women all over the world.
Christy, a keen marathon runner, also acted as a product tester for the Apple Watch, demonstrating at the launch show in 2015 how the device could be used to track fitness.
She met Saving Private Ryan actor Ed Burns when he was a PA on US TV show Entertainment Tonight and handed her a cup of coffee.
They met again at a party in 2000 and got engaged six months later.
Ed and Christy postponed their wedding, set for October 2001, in the wake of 9/11.
They then split but got back together again and married in 2003.
The couple have two children, daughter Grace, 19, and 17-year-old son Finn.
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In 2017, Christy bravely spoke out about the “harassment and mistreatment” in the modelling industry, while also admitting she may have unknowingly aided men who preyed upon young models.
She said: “The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experienced at some point in our careers.”