Exclusive Portrait: Happy Birthday to Supermodel Cindy Crawford

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – Happy Birthday to DeKalb, Ill., native Cindy Crawford on February 20th. The supermodel went from those modest roots to become one of the most famous cover girls in fashion history. She has appeared on magazines like Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Allure. She has represented fashions for Versace, Escada, Revlon and Ink. She is a brand name herself, and has launched a furniture line.

It all began when Cindy Crawford was discovered at age 16 after a photographer took a picture of her doing a summer job detasseling corn in DeKalb, and the feedback convinced her to begin a modeling career. She was valedictorian at DeKalb High School, and won a scholarship at Northwestern, but dropped out after only one quarter to pursue modeling full time. After working briefly in Chicago, she signed with the Elite New York Modeling Agency in 1986. She defined the supermodel in the 1980s and ‘90s, and built various enterprises that she continues to promote.

HollywoodChicago.com photographer Joe Arce captured this Exclusive Portrait of Cindy Crawford in 1994, and it is published here for the first time.

Cindy Crawford in Chicago 1994
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com