Cindy Crawford‘s modeling career has spanned more than three decades, but now, just three weeks before her 50th birthday, the fashion icon has announced plans to retire.
In early January Crawford joined Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer (what a ’90s lineup, right?!) to pose for Balmain’s latest campaign—and, unsurprisingly, she looked flawless. However, the iconic supermodel told United Airlines’ Rhapsody magazine, that she plans to stop working after her birthday.
“I feel like I’m allowing that to have been great, and I’m celebrating it. And I’m sure I’ll have my picture taken for 10 more years, but not as a model anymore. And that’s OK. I’ve done it. I’ve worked with all these incredible photographers. What else do I need to do? I can’t keep reinventing myself. I shouldn’t have to keep proving myself. I don’t want to.”
She might look immortal, but Crawford’s not immune to the pressures faced by women in the public spotlight, and says it’s this that spurred her decision to quit the industry: “For better or worse, I feel that there is that pressure,” she said. “I’m out on book tour. I don’t look the same that I did 25 years ago, and I don’t want to disappoint. Maybe that’s the Midwesterner in me. I want them to like me. But when do we just be happy where we are?”
Her new book, Becoming Cindy Crawford, is her farewell letter to her modeling career: “Or maybe not good-bye,” she said, “but move on.” But while we might not see Crawford in any major campaigns anymore, you can bet her genetically blessed kids will move straight into that spotlight.
Click through the gallery to swoon over 21 incredible vintage photos of Crawford doing her thing in the ’90s.
