Supermodel Cindy Crawford covers the sixth anniversary issue of Vogue Arabia, taking the March 2023 spotlight with a declaration: “What I don’t want to do is be part of that message that’s telling women of a certain age, ‘You got to hang it up now.’ Like, why? I don’t believe in a season of invisibility.”

Patrick Mackie styles Crawford in va-va-voom elegance for women of every age in images by Thomas Whiteside [IG]. / Hair by Rob Talty; makeup by Kate Lee

The point made by this 57-year-old fashion industry insider is that she can wear the clothes if she wants to — although Cindy does confirm that she’s not trying to be on the cover of ‘Sports Illustrated’ in 2023. Deal with it!

Grace Jones sent a similar message at age 74 with her new Wolford Spring 2023 campaign. Deal with it. Grace Jones, 74, Defies Goddess Logic in Wolford Spring 2023 Campaign AOC Fashion

Speaking to Vogue Arabia’s Hala Gorani, Cindy wants to talk about the Apple TV documentary series that will introduce four of the supers — Cindy-Naomi-Linda-Christy — to a younger generation. “Two weeks ago, we were all on set, shooting together. It’s been a long time since the four of us were together in front of the camera and it was amazing. In a weird way, it was like no time had passed and, in another way, we also were fully our adult selves.”

The Supermodel Sorority

Cindy and Naomi remain very close friends.

Crawford picks up an interesting theme that is different from Christy Turlington. Asked if she embraces being an example of positive aging, Cindy says “Yes, but . . . “ What limits her answer is not wanting to back herself in a corner of too many women having unrealistic expectations of her.” Crawford does not want that pressure.

Christy Turlington is not interviewed, but in her case, the physicality is in a secondary position. Christy’s work on maternal health is so major for over 15 years that her own identity long-ago evolved beyond her own physical appearance. Of course, Christy Turlington is gorgeous, but she also radiates an inner beauty because of her commitment to the world’s women and ‘ubuntu’ [I am because of you.] Christy Turlington is the top activist in this group of supers. She is also a close friend of Karlie Kloss.

It will be interesting to watch the four supermodels play out their careers in the Apple TV series.

Body Talk

Before fashion’s recent wave of activism around body types, Cindy Crawford has been the most outspoken super on the subject of size 0 models. Saying that they were all size 4-6 in the ‘90s, Cindy is forthright that based on all but recent model standards, the supers would not have been hired . . . ever.

AOC’s position on the supermodel greats is that they became so powerful and influential — so not mere mannequins or coat racks — that they had to be cut down to size. And so they were — literally — cut down to size 0.

Cutting Women Down to Size

The rise of social media has also given more models power over their own images and popularity — but we all know that experience can be scathing with megadoses of negativity and judgment.

Another factor that govers this body image debate is that during the years of the original supers, an estimated 25% of women either were in their size range or they could easily get there with healthy eating and exercise. What followed was a model decline to size 0 and the rise in size of American women — leading to a gulf of absurdity with size 0 models.

Crawford ends her interview with words that most of us understand. Cindy says: ““I have two sisters that I’m very close to and I have two separate groups of women friends. When I see them, I’m like, wow, your hair looks great, or I love your sweater, or you look amazing. I don’t think we look at ourselves through the same lens, and that, I think, is the work we need to do. To try to look at ourselves with the same love.”

That’s a perfect concept to end her Vogue Arabia post. ~ Anne