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Cindy Crawford, Earth Angel, has touched down for a Zoom call. “I have too many people running around, and dogs,” she tells me, explaining why she is spending the day at the Beverly Hills Hotel instead of her Malibu home. Beaming back at me is the face of an icon, and the hair of one too—the object of bigger-is-better ’90s worship and the inspiration for the latest collection from Meaningful Beauty, the direct-to-consumer brand that Crawford launched in 2004 with French cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh.
But the supermodel instead begins by describing her daughter Kaia Gerber’s hair: “It’s shiny, it’s bouncy, it’s smoother, it’s stronger.” It reminds Crawford of her own signature feature at its best, though she recalls a noticeable shift starting two decades ago, after her son Presley was born. (Both children have followed in their mother’s model footsteps.) “We all know the gray hairs are coming. No one told me that my hair was going to change,” admits Crawford, 55. “That was kind of a shock to me.”
Today, though, the waterfall of copper waves that reaches past Crawford’s shoulders is the antithesis of lackluster. It’s a convincing demonstration of the new Age-Proof Hair-Care System, which leans on a silk protein that’s “scientifically proven to double the shine,” she says, as well as the “super melon antioxidant” that put Meaningful Beauty’s skin care into millions of homes. That proprietary melon leaf stem-cell technology (sourced from the south of France) grounds the five-piece regimen, which consists of a shampoo, conditioner, scalp treatment, styling spray, and root touch-up compact offered in six shades.
“If you think about it, your scalp is an extension of your forehead,” says Crawford of the skin-care logic behind the formulas, which she began quietly using during the development process. It wasn’t until she visited her longtime friend and hairstylist Richard Marin—the two met in 1991 on the set of MTV’s House of Style, hosted by the model*—*that the products were put to the test. “He was like, ‘Something’s different—it’s like you have your old hair back,’” Crawford tells me with a laugh, “and I’m like, ‘Funny that you should say this!’”
The face of Revlon for more than a decade (the supermodel’s contract was not renewed in 2000, at age 34, after which sales in lipstick were rumored to have dropped by 11%), Crawford chose to move into “age maintenance,” rather than go the expected route with her own makeup line. “I don’t have the passion for makeup,” she says, however much she appreciates it on photo shoots and in her everyday routine. “But for the most part, I’m pretty minimal because I feel good in my skin.” Following an instinct to continue that feeling—with skin care championed by Crawford herself directly to her audience—continues to serve her well. When I ask if Kaia and Presley have told her about the TikTok generation’s disdain for side parts (a symptom of social media’s obsession with symmetry), Crawford is blissfully unaware. “Obviously I didn’t get the memo!” she laughs. “I don’t think there are any rules to anything. Like gray hair, or having long hair at a certain age. As long as you feel comfortable, it’s not really anyone else’s business, is it?”
The original Super shares more of that wisdom, below, including her take on the ’90s revival, an on-set revelation from George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90” music video, and her most memorable runway moment of all time.
Vanity Fair: I’m talking to you from Chicago, and I just discovered that your first cover was published about an hour from here: in DeKalb Nite Weekly, while you were in high school. What was your teen hair mood? It’s a phase that some regret, but I feel like for you it was always bombshell.
Cindy Crawford: No, no, no, no, I mean, I definitely had long hair then, and definitely loved a hot curler, which added a long time to my morning routine. We had swimming once a week in P.E., and on those days my mom would French-braid my hair. And I do love just a classic ponytail—a ponytail’s awesome, especially when you’re sick of having your hair in your face. I do have a Flashdance-inspired side ponytail picture in my high school yearbook, but I think who I aspired to be was Brooke Shields from those Calvin Klein Jeans ads and The Blue Lagoon.
Speaking of iconic moments on screen, the music video for “Freedom! ‘90'' was completely revolutionary. Even people who don’t even know what music videos are know that one. How is it to look back at something that had such outsize impact?
That video was just so many things coming together to make it iconic. It was the song itself; it was the message of the song, and then it was George Michael saying, “I don’t want to be in it. I want these women—this particular group of women.” And it was David Fincher directing. If you think about it, a lot of really amazing things came together to do that.
You once mentioned not being totally thrilled to miss out on your usual babe hair in that tub shot. I actually love tubs—if I could live in a tub, I would—so I was so pumped about that being your scene.
I do love a tub, too. But when I showed up, guess what? There was no water in that tub!
Twist!
So I wasn’t just lounging in a tub. Plus, it was very tricky, because they had to get me up high enough so they could tell it was me from the back without showing too much. It was a very acrobatic situation there. They put a bunch of grease in my hair, and I was like, “Oh really? I’m going to be the girl with the greasy hair in the tub?” And then they wanted me to put the towel on my head with the white shirt. I had seen what the other women had worn because I was [filming on] the second day, and I was like, “Wait, they probably all said no to the tub, and that was the scene that was left!”
But then when I saw the video, I [realized I] should have just trusted Fincher and his vision, because it ended up being such a great moment for me, too—and for everybody. I think it really showed how there're so many different ideas of beauty, right? That is one way that fashion is moving that I think has been great—just inclusivity on every front. We have to keep pushing for more inclusivity. But even if you look at the five of us, we looked very different, but somehow we looked good together. And our personalities are very different, but we kind of complement each other. Like, if we were all Robert Palmer girls looking the same, it wouldn’t have been that.
The ’90s are so beloved now in a way that we kind of never expected. For example, I’m scrolling through Instagram and see a clip of you introducing Kate Moss on MTV’s House of Style. I watched on a giant box TV, and now people are going back to see it on a phone screen. What were those days like? How were you able to make it that show your own?
CC: I have to give a lot of credit to my producer of that show, Alisa Bellettini. She passed away a few years ago. First of all, she loved fashion, lived for it in a way that I really never did—maybe because I was too inside it, you know? She and her husband at the time both worked for MTV. She had the idea for this show, and she approached me. I was like, “Sounds fun, let’s do it.” I loved it because at the time, if you think about it, there was no behind the scenes. Really, the only way that fashion was being covered on television was very formally, like [CNN’s] Elsa Klensch presenting, “Oh, here’s the Valentino show.” It was very serious. And I think with House of Style, our whole objective was, yes, you want to show designers, but you also want to bring in the grit and the music and the pop culture. One of the reviews we got said, “It’s silly, superficial, and wonderful.“ And we were like, “Yes!” I wanted to get T-shirts printed up that said that. Because to me, that’s fashion at its best. It inspires people to have fun and express themselves, and it should be fun. And I think we forget.
I don’t know if you played with Barbies or anything when you were a little girl? My sisters and I were obsessed with our Barbies. My grandma made clothes for them, and then made us matching clothes. When you’re playing dress-up as a little girl, it’s fun. You’re not like, “Oh, what’s the other Barbie wearing? I need to be competitive.” And we lose that somehow, as adult women, that it’s supposed to be fun.
And really, the same can be said for beauty. Certain people feel you aren’t supposed to wear makeup, or touch your skin, or act like you’re trying. I’m wearing pixie buns and two layers of eyeliner because it’s fun! We’re allowed to have a good time with beauty, too.
I say it’s a tool, right? Feeling good about your hair, or feeling good about your skin, or that you have the perfect pair of jeans on. The only reason it matters is: How does it make you feel? If you feel more confident, that confidence infuses everything you do. Meaningful Beauty is called “Meaningful Beauty” for a reason. Dr. Sebagh and I really thought about how we want each and every product to be meaningful, to have real, efficacious results. But also, why is beauty meaningful? Is it just superficial? No. It’s a tool for everyone. It’s meaningful because it helps boost our self-esteem. You look in the mirror like, “You know what? I look pretty good today.” And then you go out and whatever else you do, you’re going to do it better.
You emit that energy people are really attracted to—not just because you’re physically beautiful, but because you’re seen as the so-called girl next door. The tag may be annoying, but it’s also a real compliment.
I don’t mind it! Thank you. And you know, I do feel like I cherish my friendships with women so much. I mean, I love my husband and we’ve been married for 23 years, but my girlfriends, my sisters—they’re the people that I can go to and fall apart. The way that we treat our girlfriends is like, “Oh my god, I love your new haircut!” And you’re like, “Oh, I look like shit,” and they’re like, “No, you don’t! You look great!” We build each other up. I think that is so important. So much of my career—especially my own projects, like Meaningful Beauty, but before that my workout videos—has been about sharing with women. Like, “Hey, this works for me! Maybe you don’t live in New York or a private trainer is too expensive, but I’m going to share Radu with you. I’m going to share Dr. Sebagh with you.” That’s important to me, but I also think people know that it’s authentic.
Around the time when you were doing those workout videos, the subject of fashion shoots came up in an interview and you basically said: “My breasts are taped up. They’ve airbrushed my face. This isn’t what I look like in the morning.” It was before people were talking about industry tweaks, the term Photoshop didn’t yet exist, and you were being honest with your audience from the start.
I think more than once I said something like, “Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.” Cindy Crawford is a creation. It’s essentially me, but there’s definitely help. I’m so lucky, I get to sit in a makeup chair—and that’s why I never did a makeup line, per se, because most of the time in my professional life, someone else was doing it. Skin care was my job, though. Taking care of my skin so that I had a great palette or a clean slate for the makeup artist, I did feel like that was part of my job.
Your level of professionalism is part of your reputation. Is there wisdom you’re sharing with your kids now that you’ve all experienced the same industry?
My mother gives the best advice. Hers is: “Don’t give advice if someone doesn’t ask for it.” Lately I’ve been trying to follow that. People have to be receptive. They’re adults—they get to do what they want.
However, when they were younger and starting their first jobs—and their first jobs weren’t in the fashion industry; my son worked in a juice shop—the advice was the same though: “Show up prepared, be on time, and stay off your phone.”
People forget that the person right in front of them is actually important when the world is so wiggly and virtual on a phone.
It keeps us in these little private bubbles. Especially sitting in a makeup chair, I see a lot of young models and they’re just lost and they’re scrolling, and they might be missing out on meeting their best friend who’s the person doing their hair or their nails. As I look back on my career, the best thing about my job is the people that I’ve encountered along the way.
You’re still a human being. Meanwhile, in the world of Cindy Crawford the supermodel, were there any instances where you were like, “This is a moment that I’m always going to remember”?
I think probably the biggest moment like that in terms of my career was the Versace show right after the George Michael “Freedom!” video. Christy and Linda and Naomi and I came out at the end when they played that song, and it’s rare that you know it’s a moment when you’re in the moment. It felt special. Like the k.d lang Vanity Fair cover: Wow, like, that was kind of a thing. But when we were doing it, the photographer Herb Ritts just called me: “Hey, can you come by and do this last minute?” It wasn’t a big plan that required a lot of thought. It was just, “Oh yeah, sure. I’m free. I’ll come by.”
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