Photography by World Red Eye
Ageless supermodel Cindy Crawford turns 50 next year, and her early birthday present to herself is a new book entitled “Becoming.” the book features life lessons and chronicles moments and pictures from her career. Lifestyle sat down with crawford at 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach to find out where she is at in this stage of her life, if she has any regrets and who she has become.
Lifestyle: Time has been kind to you. What has been the hardest part of aging so far?
Cindy Crawford:Here’s the thing, you see little physical changes; I feel good when I exercise and eat right. I don’t want to focus on the negatives. I think Nora Ephron wrote in her book, “10 years from now, you’re going to wish for that self.”
Lifestyle: Do you wish for your old self when you see your daughter, who’s your mini-me?
Cindy Crawford: I don’t think she’s exactly my mini-me, but in a lot of ways she resembles me. I always tease her because of her hair. She doesn’t have to do anything to it and it looks perfect when she wakes up in the morning. And I’m like, “Give me my old hair back!” I didn’t appreciate it back then, and she doesn’t appreciate it at 14 either. Again, it’s not until later that you think, “Why didn’t I appreciate my hair when I didn’t have to do anything to it?”
Lifestyle: You posed nude for Playboy, would you pose nude at 50?
Cindy Crawford: I posed nude last year, but I wouldn’t do Playboy now. Why torture my 16-year-old son? But I won’t say that I’ll never do a nude again.
Lifestyle: What about your daughter? She’s modeling now, would you allow her to pose nude?
Cindy Crawford: I think all my husband and I can hope for Kaia is that she makes decisions when she is on her own, that she knows enough to listen to her inner voice.
Lifestyle: Your book is called “Becoming.” Who have you become at 50?
Cindy Crawford: I am a wife, a mother, a businesswoman and a model in the sense that when I’m in front of the camera, I’m still very comfortable. I like working, especially if I have a good rapport with a photographer. I like helping them tell a story. That’s what fashion to me is. But I’m a friend, I’m a sister and a daughter. Sometimes I sit by myself and read a good book, too.
Lifestyle: Do you have any regrets?
Cindy Crawford: I didn’t always take advantage of opportunities because I felt intimidated. There were times when I was invited to do things, and I thought, “Maybe I’m not going to fit in” or “They’re all so sophisticated.” Inside all of us is a little insecure kid. Today, I would say, “Just do it anyway.”
Lifestyle: What is your favorite photo in “Becoming?”
Cindy Crawford: Every single photo in the book is a favorite. I was able to narrow it down to 150 out of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands images of me. I honestly couldn’t pick one.
Lifestyle: What do you like to do when you visit South Florida?
Cindy Crawford: The main thing we like to do is just be outside. We’ll wake up, take a long walk… and we want to eat outside any chance we can. We like to try new things. We went to Makoto at Bal Harbour Shops, Matador Room at the Miami Beach EDITION and Beachcraft here at the hotel; I like to be able to walk home after dinner.
Lifestyle: Do you really use your skin care line Meaningful Beauty?
Cindy Crawford: Absolutely. I have facials, I exercise, I try to get enough sleep; I take care of myself. But my daily skin care routine is Meaningful Beauty.
Lifestyle: And you’re still changing the beauty line?
Cindy Crawford: The great thing is that whenever I’m like, “Dr. Sebagh, my skin is changing and I need a little more brightening or I need firming,” we can add. As my skin ages – and our core audience’s skin ages – we try to add more efficacy to the product.
Lifestyle: At 50, what do you want everyone to know about you?
Cindy Crawford: I wrote this book for myself, and really wanting to share my life. But at some point, if you’re happy with yourself, then if people love it, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s OK too, because I did what I wanted to do. That is one of the gifts of getting older. You realize the first person you want to please is yourself.
