5 Reasons Cindy Crawford is Still Fabulous at 51

On February 20, Cindy Crawford celebrates her 51st birthday.

Last year, when she turned 50, the birthday celebrations included her husband of more than 20 years, Rande Gerber, who whisked her off to St. Barths on a private jet. His best friend and business partner, George Clooney, (they own Casamigos, a tequila brand) joined them. She was later pictured frolicking in the Caribbean sea, wearing a black bikini and still sporting an incredible body.

One of the original supermodels from 1990s—and the word “supermodel” these days have been diluted and designated to just about any model strutting down a runway with a pair of Victoria’s Secret wings on her back—Crawford has been featured on more than 600 magazine covers.

She was part of an elite group of models that included Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and Christy Turlington that rose to become international stars beyond the world of fashion.

With her trademark mole and voluminous big hair, Crawford was—and still is—a bombshell. Not only did designers clamour to have her and her supermodel peers in their runway shows but rock stars, like George Michael, famously featured them in music videos. Even mega brands, like Pepsi, had Crawford starring in a Super Bowl commercial.

Today, the model is still busy as ever, being a model, mother, wife, author and designing a furniture line.

So, as the supermodel celebrates her birthday this week, we celebrate five reasons Cindy Crawford is still fabulous.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 04: (L-R) Cindy Crawford, model Kaia Jordan Gerber, Presley Walker Gerber, and businessman Rande Gerber attend a book party in honor of "Becoming" by Cindy Crawford, hosted by Bill Guthy And Greg Renker, at Eric Buterbaugh Floral on December 4, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Donato Sardella/WireImage)

She’s a model mom and wife

Back in the 1990s, supermodels were often seen in the company of rock stars and actors and led glamorous lives jet-setting around the world. But Cindy Crawford was one of the few who seemed level-headed and kept out of tabloid scandals that involved bad behaviour.  She often credited her mid-western upbringing for keeping her grounded. Once briefly married to actor Richard Gere, she has since been married to businessman, Rande Gerber, for more than 20 years and they have two children—Presley Walker Gerber, 17, and Kaia Jordan Gerber, 15. The two teens not only seem to share their mother’s good looks and angular cheekbones, but also seem to have her level-headedness and, despite living in Los Angeles, have not displayed any bratty behaviour often associated with celebrity offspring.

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 10: Model Cindy Crawford attends Saks Fifth Avenue private cocktail and Q & A with Fern Mallis at AGO on December 10, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)

She’s an author and a brainiac

Last year, she published a book, Becoming, about her life as a model and, as seen here, showed up in Toronto to promote the coffee table tome. But hers is not the familiar tale of a high school drop out. She was an A student and class valedictorian in high school. She had a younger brother that passed away and the resulting grief caused her parents to separate. She mentions this was one of the reasons that drove her to excel at school and not to add to the heavy burden her parents were already going through. She went on to study chemical engineering at university but dropped out when her modelling career took off and moved to New York.

She hangs out with the Clooney’s

She’s friends with Amal and George Clooney, one of the coolest couples on the planet right now. The actor is best friends with her husband and they are business partners in a venture, Casamigo, a brand of high end tequila. Not only did Crawford attend Clooney’s wedding in Venice, but the two couples often hang out together.

402614 01: Supermodel Cindy Crawford drinks a Pepsi in an award-winning ad produced for regular Pepsi in 1991, in which a pair of awestruck boys watched Crawford approach a Pepsi vending machine. Crawford will star in a new Diet Pepsi commercial during the 74th Annual Academy Awards airing March 24, 2002 on ABC-TV. (Photo by Pepsi/Getty Images)

She’s been a Pepsi girl—more than once

Perhaps a testament to her longevity, relevance and enduring beauty, almost 25 years after Pepsi hired her for the now-iconic television commercial that aired during the Superbowl in 1991, Pepsi re-hired Crawford and recreated the same commercial, right down to the same outfit and classic song last year. The commercial (which had a hilarious twist) aired after the Super Bowl and showed Crawford, looking practically ageless, despite more than two decades passing since the original commercial.

via @olivier_rousteing

Designers are still clamouring for her

Olivier Rousteing, the young designer at the luxury French label, Balmain, featured Crawford and two other supermodels from her era, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, in the brand’s 2016 spring campaigns. The black and white shots are mesmerizing and dynamic. Rousteing, in an interview with Vogue about his decision to cast these legendary models in a campaign for Balmain—a rather youthful label—said, “These three women are what made me love fashion yesterday, make me love fashion today, and are going to make me love fashion in the future.”

Well said. Cindy Crawford, at 51, still beautiful, still fabulous and, most of all, still inspiring.