Why The Supermodels Existed, By Cindy

15 Jan 2015

CINDY CRAWFORD has employed her scientific skills (the supermodel was on course to study chemical engineering at university before the fashion industry got its hands on her) to analyse the dawn of the supermodel era, pinpointing the exact alchemy that allowed the supermodel phenomenon to occur.

"[It was] like the stars were in alignment," Crawford said. "The reason supermodels could come into being was because Hollywood actresses wanted to be taken seriously. They didn't want the red carpet to be a catwalk, which it has now become. And the models were like, 'We'll do that!' And all of a sudden fashion wasn't just about Vogue and couture, there was an explosion of coverage and we were the rock stars of that."

1991 - In what was to become one of the most iconic catwalk moments of all time, Cindy walked down Gianni Versace’s catwalk with Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington. Dubbed the supermodel “maker”, Versace made history by paying the supers $30,000 each to appear in his shows.

Rex Features

Things are much harder for models now, she laments, with competition for major contracts coming from new sources all the time.

"I feel like I lived through the heyday of modelling," she told the Evening Standard. "Models are not really getting covers now, and they're not getting the big cosmetics contracts and that's where the money is. It's actresses and singers and reality-TV people."

Far from the image of the fame-seeking reality television star is Crawford's long-time friend George Clooney, which is why many were surprised when his 2014 wedding became a very public affair, with paparazzi capturing every movement of the new bride and groom on Venice's Grand Canal. But, to Crawford, the move was perfectly logical.

"I think George decided - and Amal, too - which I thought was smart of them, typically, that either you spend all this time and energy trying to make it secret or you go, 'You know what? We're getting married in Venice and we're going to have this great party and we're going to do exactly what we want,'" she said. "So that's what they did and I really respect them for it."