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- Cindy Crawford is a model known for her success during the 1980s and 1990s.
- She has two kids.
- The beauty has been married to Rande Gerber since 1998.
- Most recently Cindy shared a hilarious Christmas card that featured her two kids on Dec. 25, 2022.
Kaia Gerber, 21, is one of the hottest models in the world right now, having made her runway debut in 2018 as part of Calvin Klein’s Spring show at New York Fashion Week. Most impressively, she walked like a seasoned model at just 16 years old! Kaia didn’t just pop into the high fashion world out of nowhere; she’s the daughter of a supermodel who was at the top of her career in the 1980s and 1990s: Cindy Crawford.
Cindy, 56, is an American model who made her runway debut in 1991 for Donna Karan at New York Fashion Week and would become a staple at the coveted show for years. Now, Cindy focuses more on acting and her various business ventures, such as her anti-aging skincare brand, Meaningful Beauty, and her Cindy Crawford Home furnishings and décor brand. Most recently, on Dec. 25, 2022, Cindy took to Instagram to share her family’s Christmas card. “Merry Christmas!”, she captioned the hilarious photo of her family as elves. And of course, she’s the doting mother of Kaia and her older brother, Presley Gerber, 23, Learn more about Cindy, her relationships, and her children below.
Who Is Cindy Crawford?
Cindy was born on Feb. 20, 1966 and grew up in DeKalb, Ill. A studious student, she graduated from DeKalb High School at the top of her class in 1984 and went on to study chemical engineering on an academic scholarship to Northwestern University. “[It was] super exciting,” Crawford told Oprah Winfrey in 2014 for a special live stream of Oprah’s Lifeclass (via Huffpost). “There was no way my parents could have afforded to send me to school there.”
However, by then, Cindy already had modeling on her mind thanks to a photo shoot she participated in when she was 16 years old for a local newspaper. “When I was 16, Roger Legel, a local photographer in my small town of DeKalb, Ill., asked to photograph me for the college newspaper. I agreed, and he shot this picture at the backyard pool of my high-school boyfriend. I was still a teenager and dreamed of becoming something big — a nuclear physicist or the first woman president, the two biggest jobs I could think of. Doing this first shoot changed my life,” she recalled in her 2015 memoir Becoming (via Vanity Fair).
She continued, “The photographer encouraged me to go to Chicago to try to find an agent. At the time, my dad thought modeling was a nice word for prostitution, so my parents were very protective of me. I went to Chicago, ended up signing with Elite, and from there started doing catalog shoots as well as working with Victor Skrebneski — the most important photographer in Chicago. This one photograph opened my eyes to a whole new world and started me down the path of modeling.”
Cindy eventually dropped out of college to pursue modeling full-time. “It started to feel like I wasn’t going to do either one well, so I felt like, ‘Yes I need to choose,’” she recalled in a past interview. She added that she felt like her modeling career “couldn’t wait”, while school would always be an option. “I knew with modeling, the moment was then, and it was, I just felt like, ‘This is my chance and I have to take it’,” she explained. “But it was a really hard decision because academics had been so important to me all through school, my high school, and it was kind of like, “Wow, I am abandoning this dream for another dream.’”
Once Cindy dived into modeling headfirst, she became a bona fide superstar, modeling for the likes of Versace, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kohrs, and so many more huge names, per Vogue. She has also covered countless Vogue magazines, as well as Cosmopolitan, People, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, and several others. She also posed for Playboy, once in 1988 and once in 1998. Her only regret? Not showing her body off more. “I look back at some of my old Playbοy pictures and I think, ‘Why wasn’t I walking around naked all the time?’” she revealed in an interview with Net-a-Porter’s Porter in March 2019. “I’m not getting younger. So I want to celebrate who I am today.”
Although Cindy is no longer walking runways, she still is dressed by some of the biggest brands while cheering on her kids as they build their modeling careers, as well as working on her above-mentioned lifestyle brands.
Cindy Crawford’s Relationship Timeline
While Cindy is rumored to have dated some big names such as Val Kilmer and even Robert De Niro, her biggest relationships are her two marriages. The fashion icon first walked down the aisle with Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere in 1991, about three years after they met at a barbecue hosted by a mutual friend, per People. Sadly, though, their love faded, and the pair divorced in 1995. “I think a lot of what happened with Richard and I was, I was still 22 and at 22 — as a young woman — I was kind of still figuring out who I was and what I wanted to be and he was already 37,” explained to Oprah on Oprah’s Master Class (via Entertainment Tonight).
She continued, “I just think your twenties for women is such a time when you’re starting to come into your own and feel your own power and connect to your inner strength. … I think I was more willing at 22 to be, like, ‘Okay, I’ll follow,’ but then you start going, ‘Well, I don’t want to just follow — I want to lead sometimes and I want to walk side by side sometimes.’”
Three years later, Cindy would become a wife again. This time, it was to Rande Gerber, an American businessman and model. They tied the knot in a casual ceremony on the beach at the Ocean Club in Nassau, the Bahamas in front of 90 guests, according to People. The Baha Men, who won a Grammy for their 2000 hit “Who Let the Dogs Out,” performed, and guests were fed pasta, roast beef, seafood dishes, and carrot cake.
The wedding was so casual that Cindy bought her dress off the rack and walked barefoot down the aisle with her future husband. “I wanted to look like the best version of the girl Rande loves waking up to every morning,” she wrote in Becoming (via Brides) of her natural wedding look. “Rather than have my dad walk me down the aisle and give me away, Rande and I chose to walk each other down the stairs that led to the beach and the ceremony.”
In 2015, Rande, now 60, who founded Casamigos Tequila with George Clooney, revealed the secret to his happy marriage. “We started as friends and we remained friends,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “You have to just keep that friendship and fun in the relationship.”
And in 2021, they sweetly celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary, which Cindy posted about on Instagram. “This night 23 years ago was magical…and you’re still the one! Happy anniversary! I love you,” she wrote alongside a photo from their wedding night. How sweet!
Cindy Crawford’s Kids
Cindy and Rande welcomed two children together in the first years of their marriage, as noted above. Their son, Presley Gerber, was born on July 2, 1999 — about a year after his parents’ wedding. Kaia Gerber was born two years later on Sept. 3, 2001.
Being a mom is a joy for Cindy, and she opened up about her parenting style in a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I’m still figuring it out. But I do know that kids watch you,” she noted. “So if I’m kind to myself, and not going, ‘Oh my God, I hate my … fill in the blank.’ Even though I still have insecurities, I want to be a good example even if I’m faking it sometimes.”
Meet Kaia Gerber
Kaia, 21, is nearly a spitting image of her mother with just as much talent. She landed her first Versace campaign at the age of 10 and signed with IMG models when she was just 13. Speaking of Kaia’s first gig, Cindy said she was there every step of the way. “We allowed her to do it because it was with a great team. She loved shooting for Donatella Versace with Mert and Markus. I chaperoned her and I knew besides getting great pictures, she would have fun,” she explained to Teen Vogue in 2016. “Because she didn’t do another modeling job right away, the media falsely said I was pulling her back from it. The truth is, there aren’t that many incredible opportunities for young girls and I only wanted her to have great experiences.”
As mentioned above, Kaia started walking runways at just 16 years old and has not looked back. Aside from walking runways, she has covered Vogue internationally and has worked with many of the same brands as her mother: Versace, Marc Jacobs, and more. As of this writing, some of her most recent brand collaborations include CELINE by Celine Dion, Marc Jacobs Fragrances, and Beats by Dre.
Like her mother, Kaia has also dipped her feet into acting. Her upcoming projects include Emma Seligman-directed Bottoms and Apple TV’s Mrs. American Pie. She also notably appeared in Season 10 of American Horror Story in 2021.
Aside from her impressive professional endeavors, Kaia has made headlines for her romantic relationships. She famously dated Kim Kardashian‘s newest ex, Pete Davidson, for a few months between 2019 and 2020. Kaia then dated Euphoria star Jacob Elordi and moved onto Austin Butler, where they were photographed holding hands on the carpet of W Magazine‘s annual Best Performances party in March 2022.
The Elvis star was recently spotted supporting his beautiful girlfriend at the “Celine at The Wiltern” Fall Winter 2023 show on Dec. 8, 2022. Kaia notably closed the show and also rocked two stunning looks for the evening. “@celine at the wiltern. thank you hedi the king of cool and a true genius, in every sense of the word. it’s the age of indieness and we’re just living in it,” the 21-year-old wrote via Instagram. Austin and the brunette bombshell were also spotted on Dec. 21, 2022, running errands together in Los Angeles just days before Christmas.
In 2017, Kaia told Teen Vogue that she chose to become a model rather than being forced to follow in her famous mother’s footsteps. “It’s fun for me, so it doesn’t feel like work. I choose to do it,” she said. However, she also admitted she did not fully understand how big of a name her mother really was in the modeling world until she took a shot at it. “I knew she did it, but I didn’t really realize it was a job?” she recalled to i-D in 2020. “Like if your parents are doctors or lawyers, that’s a different thing. It wasn’t like ‘Cindy Crawford’ was my mom, she was just mom and she happened to be a model. It was only when I started working in the fashion industry that I began to really grasp her impact and influence.”
Cindy is clearly a supportive mother, and Kaia has appreciated her being there as a positive role model. “Beyond her beauty and obvious appeal, she has always been my hero and my role model because of the way she treats people and the lens that she sees the world through, and that’s something for which I’m beyond grateful,” she wrote in a 2019 essay for Vogue. Two years earlier, Cindy gushed about the person her daughter was becoming. “I’m just proud of the young woman that she is becoming and just the way she handles herself,” she told ET Canada. Speaking about her bustling fashion career, she added, “I was excited for her because this is a dream that she’s had, and it just happened in the nicest way possible.”
Meet Presley Gerber
Although he’s not quite as famous as his sister, Presley, 23, is also a successful model. He was signed to IMG Models at 16 years old, according to Stylecaster, and made his runway debut alongside Yolanda Hadid‘s son, Anwar Hadid, at the Moschino Resort show in June 2016, per Us Weekly. On the same day of his runway debut, Vogue published an email interview with him, in which he admitted he was not expecting to feel at home in the modeling world as much as he does. “Honestly, I have enjoyed [the fashion industry] a lot more than expected,” he revealed. “I think I just didn’t feel that I had enough experience in the fashion industry before, but now I believe I’m ready.” Presley has been photographed with Kaia for Calvin Klein, and some of his most recent collaborations are with Kygo‘s Palm Tree Crew brand and BLUESALT, a Malibu-based clothing brand.
Presley is super private about his life, but he has still managed to show up in the headlines for some controversial issues. First, he was arrested in 2019 for driving under the influence, per Today, and in Feb. 2020, he shocked people when he got a tattoo that read “Misunderstood!” across his right cheekbone. By Aug. 2021, he had gotten it removed.
Cindy and Presley have a great relationship, despite his eyebrow-raising antics. In 2021, Cindy posted a throwback photo with her son in honor of his 22 birthday and made sure he knows he will always have his support. “Happy Birthday @presleygerber! I can’t believe how quickly the years pass and that you are turning 22! How did that happen?! I just want you to know that you have your mother’s love today and everyday,” she gushed. “Excited to see your life unfold. I will always be your biggest cheerleader!”
When it comes to his love life, Presley has also recently made headlines. The handsome model reportedly broke up with his girlfriend, Lexi Wood, one month after going Instagram official, per E! News. “They realized very quickly it wasn’t going to be a long-term relationship,” the outlet’s source said. The online news outlet also claimed that a source close to Lexi claimed that it was her choice to end the romance. Although neither of them have commented on the split publicly as of this writing, they have deleted all photos of each other on their respective Instagram accounts.
Upcoming Appearances And Works With Cindy Crawford
Cindy is a busy woman, but she appears to be taking a bit of a breather. She has not announced any brand deals or professional developments in 2022, but she has certainly been living her life to the fullest with Rande. In June, they were spotted vacationing in France with George Clooney and Amal Clooney. Plus, her Instagram is full of memories, such as jet skiing, waterside lounging, and boating. And on Dec. 18, 2022, Cindy spent time with Christy Turlington and Danish model Helena Christensen for the holidays. “Love The Big Apple anytime but especially leading up to the holidays – with all the lights and decorations And nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than catching up with family and friends!”, she captioned the sweet photos.
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