Last week Apple TV premiered the documentary series The Supermodels, starring Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. Throughout four episodes, the tops narrate how they got started in the fashion industry and how they became the most important models of the 80s and 90s.
During the chapters, the viewer learns first-hand how the protagonists felt at different stages of their career. Cindy Crawford explains, for example, how she fell in love with Richard Gere, whom she met in 1988 when she was only 21 years old – he was 38 years old. They married three years later and it was at that time when the American tried her luck as a presenter, launching her own fitness videos or became the image of Revlon.
A few first years full of successes but also more than one tear. And Cindy, who always wore her brown hair with a lot of volume and waves, saw how one of her identifying characteristics changed without her consent. A “traumatic” moment that occurred for her first photo session with Patrick Demarchelier, one of the most acclaimed fashion photographers of the 80s and 90s.
At that time, Crawford was 18 years old, was already beginning to emerge in the industry and caught the Frenchman’s attention. But her condition was that she had to cut her hair. “My agency and I decided it wasn’t worth it, so we said, ‘No, he’s not cutting his hair,’ and they said, ‘Fine, no problem.’ I was so excited. It was a great opportunity. The first night they sent a hairdresser to my room. They combed my hair, put a ponytail in my hair, and cut it without asking,” explains Cindy.
A radical and involuntary change of look that left the young woman in shock. “I sat there crying in a hotel in Rome. And people wonder why I’ve never cut my hair since, that’s why. I was traumatized,” says Crawford, who went from long hair to a pixie. I really felt like I wasn’t seen as a person who had a say in her own destiny. “It’s not that I didn’t like wearing short hair, it’s that I hadn’t made the decision to wear it,” she adds.
This experience left the top very touched, who even reconsidered her career in the industry. In fact, she thought, “If this is what it means to be a model, I’m just not ready for this.”
Once she earned the title of supermodel, Cindy began to make her own decisions, among them, letting her hair grow and wearing it the way she liked, with a lot of volume and big waves. A hairstyle that she still wears today.
