Cindy Crawford then and now from the start of her career ahead of landmark birthday

We have come to know her as one of the iconic supermodels of the 1980s, however, her childhood was far from the glitz and glamour of her now busy city life.

While growing up in Illinois, she used to work at a farm where she would detassel corn, and one day while doing so, her picture was taken by a local news photographer.

The following year she put herself out there as a model by entering the Look of the Year model contest, which was hosted by the prestigious Elite Model Management. 

She ended up becoming a finalist and started getting gigs.

She graduated as a class valedictorian in 1984 from DeKalb High School and then attended Northwestern University, where she studied chemical engineering.

Despite being optimistic that she would be able to pursue both modeling and her studies simultaneously, she ended up dropping out in 1985 to dedicate herself fully to modeling.

The following year she moved to New York City, and she landed a life-changing gig as the cover girl for Vogue‘s August 1986 cover.

Her career kicked into high-gear, and she broke the mold by becoming the first fashion model to pose nude for Playboy in 1988. 

From 1989 to 1995, she hosted the TV show House of Style.

1989 was a huge year for the star, as she secured a four-year contract worth millions with makeup giant Revlon. 

The following year she appeared on the January cover of British Vogue alongside other supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington.

Their iconic cover caught the attention of George Michael, and he decided to feature them all in the music video for his hit song “Freedom.”

In 1991, the supermodels all walked down Versace’s fashion runway during the couture show and got a standing ovation from the ecstatic crowd.

Cindy ventured into entrepreneurship in 1992 by launching her own production company Crawdaddy Inc., through which she released fitness videos.

The model turned towards acting in 1995 when she appeared in Fair Game. 

She also participated in the documentaries Unzipped and Catwalk. 

On top of that, she published her makeup book called Cindy Crawford’s Basic Face: A Makeup Workbook.

In 2000, Cindy chose to retire from the industry. Since then she has co-founded a skincare brand called Meaningful Beauty in 2005 and co-authored her book Becoming in 2015.