The Super Models (2023) s01e04 Episode Script
The Legacy
1
[man] I think it's a bit--
We've got so many nods to Pepsi
that for you to have a Pepsi can
- is a bit of no-no.
- I don't need it, no.
- But it's kind of, "what the fuck?"
- And we know the environment.
- Yes, yeah.
- Yes. Okay.
And we'll just play around with that,
and then we'll do one different shot here.
But I just want to get something
in the can straight away.
- Okay. Okay.
- And I think it will work.
You haven't changed at all over 30 years,
but you know that.
I redo this commercial every ten years
just to make sure.
I'm very flattered
that I'm the 2021 edition.
Just come a little bit more this way.
Come forward.
[camera clicking]
A little bit more this--
That's it. That's it.
[Cindy] I never in a million years thought
I would still be in front of the camera
[chuckles] 35 five years
after I started modeling.
I mean, uh, no. Yeah, even more.
I started modeling when I was 17.
So, that's a long time. [chuckles]
[camera clicking]
I don't think there was a
like, a long-term plan
for most young women who started modeling.
Because we thought about maybe
you'd have a five-year career.
[Younger Cindy] It would be silly
for me to say
that physical beauty's not important
for our job because it is.
But I think everyone knows it's--
It sounds such a cliché to say
that, you know, beauty's on the inside,
but-- but it's really true.
- [camera clicking]
- Great, that's good.
But there's a kind
of physical beauty that's about
physically how you look, but I mean,
that doesn't last very long.
Aging.
Your body changes and everything changes.
[breathing, murmuring to herself]
[people murmuring]
I just got into a furnace. No, I--
[man] Are you okay?
No, I think I'm going through menopause,
it's pre-early menopause.
- Pre-menopause.
- [man] You want a little bit of wind?
- There's nothing you can do.
- [woman] We'll give you some wind.
It just happens. Shit, Lord.
- [man laughs]
- One minute, I'm fine.
Next minute, just this furnace comes up.
- I got some wind for you.
- Why do men not get menopause?
[Naomi] There have been times when
I've said, "Okay, I'm gonna slow down,
I'm gonna pull out,
I'm gonna go do other things."
But my energy is still the same.
You hope that the way you are
will sort of transcend your image.
I don't like just being, like,
"I'm a model."
[laughs] "I'm a model,
and that's all I am."
[younger Christy] So I've been
doing a lot less everything.
I just have a lot of interests in my life.
It's not that I'm stopping.
I'm just being a lot more selective.
I just hope that when this is all over,
that I take it well.
I put my whole heart into it.
Um
I know it's gonna come to an end one day.
- [indistinct]
- [laughs]
[Linda] So many barriers have been
taken down since I started modeling.
And age was one of them. And
you see Cindy
and Christy
and Naomi.
They're flourishing
and they're beautiful, and
[breath shaking]
they can work forever.
[Linda] I didn't sleep last night.
It's okay, as long as
as long as I'm gonna live it's okay.
I've just been dealt so many blows
that I feel like this is just another one
and I'll get over it, 'cause,
what am I gonna do, I have to get over it.
Being in the vain world
that I was working in and living in,
there were all these tools
we were presented with.
And, um, I used some of those tools.
[voice trembling] Because
I wanted to like
what I saw in the mirror,
and the commercial said
I would like myself better.
But what happened to my body
after CoolSculpting
became my nightmare.
I can't like myself
with these hard masses and protrusions
sticking out of my body.
I-- I just can't.
Had someone told me you're going
to grow hard fat, that we can't remove,
maybe,
I would never have taken the risk.
I wish we could just really
see ourselves
in the mirror.
Non-distorted.
Without ever having seen ourselves
with a filter or retouched.
[voice trembling]
That is what has thrown me
into this deep depression that I'm in.
It's like a trap. You're trapped.
With yourself, that you hate.
It's been years since I worked.
And years of hiding.
I never went out the door
unless it was maybe
a doctor's appointment
that I had to go to.
[distant siren wailing]
[Linda] Let's go get that poison
shot in me.
- [doctor] Tell us your name and birthday.
- [machine beeping]
Five, ten, '65.
Linda Evangelista.
That's a beautiful name.
So might as well go with it.
Linda?
- Evangelista, there's something
- Evangelista is beautiful.
But Linda? I never liked that name.
[doctor] So one hour on this,
one hour on the Cytoxan
and then one hour at night
and 30 minutes on the [indistinct]
So, it's three and a half.
[Linda]
And I keep saying I'm not suffering.
[doctor] Yeah.
Just a little inconvenienced here.
I was approached to do this, and I will
do anything that I can for breast cancer.
And for me, this is not work,
this is pleasure.
And to do something for this cause
that I'm very, very, um
[Linda voiceover] It's always been
a charity dear to my heart.
And ironic that I ended up
with breast cancer myself.
A little over three years ago,
I was diagnosed.
The decision was very easy to make
to have a double mastectomy.
But it came back.
[Dr. Shapiro] So right now,
the treatment seems
to be going as planned, um
It's really good that you brought it
to everyone's attention
because it was a finding that I think
would have been easily overlooked.
And you're very attuned to your body.
I mean, that's what you did
to make your living.
And, you know,
and so it all comes together
that someone with your life experience
would be attuned to something going on.
I was pushing on it, because
I thought maybe it was, um,
because I'm told it was rib number four
that I had sawn off
from one of my lung surgeries.
So I thought it was the the nub that--
[Shapiro] I can see how
you would think that.
And in fact, that is
[Linda] I have a genetic mutation
called Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome,
where I had developed little weak spots
and air would escape
and it would cause my lung to collapse.
I don't know how many
surgeries I've had.
I've had so many.
Scars for me are trophies.
Like, I overcame something and I won.
I battled something. And I survived.
So, I could celebrate a scar.
But to be disfigured, is not a trophy.
I can't see how anybody
would want to dress me.
I just can't. I can't.
Now to lose my job
that I love so much and [inhales]
[crying] lose my livelihood.
My heart is broken.
I loved my job.
[people murmuring, indistinct]
- [man] This, um
- [woman] But this was more for Christy.
[man] And that--
Yeah. She wants to wear some, like
- What's this one? Celine?
- [man] That's Celine.
Oh, my God. This is the total
of Naomi's rings. Five million.
I would show her. [chuckles]
[blow dryer whirring]
[Christy] I haven't really done that much
over the years, 'cause I feel like--
I used to feel guilty to do, like,
trips for myself.
- [Cindy] Yeah.
- When I traveled a lot.
- Right.
- So now that my kids are like
- barely notice that I'm gone.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Actually, one of my other girlfriends,
she would call home
and her daughters are like,
"Where are you?"
- And she's like, "I'm out of the country."
- And she's like, "You are?"
- 'Cause at a certain point, they don't--
- "Didn't you make my breakfast?"
Yeah, at a certain point
they just don't even know.
back in the UK.
So, I'm trying to think.
Thursday, Friday, I'm in the UK.
Saturday, I'm in the UK,
and Sunday I'm in the UK.
Is that okay? Would that work?
We all have so much history,
and I think that's
that's the fun thing
of getting everyone together.
It's like a high school reunion.
I work Thursday, Friday, and
Like, just, all of our lives have gotten
so busy and complicated now too.
To get everyone
in the same city at the same
[make-up artist] Which is amazing.
It's the first time we're all together
in our 50s, our collective 50s.
Um
We're all mothers now.
Changed.
[Christy] In 1996
I remember being in Paris
for the couture and
I-- I gained a little bit of weight
because I'd quit smoking,
and I got released from a show.
And I remember feeling like,
"Well, I'm not gonna let this, like,
make me feel bad."
I just made a decision for myself,
which is probably
one of the best decisions I've made.
"And so, you know, maybe now is the time.
Like, you know, I don't really want to
I don't really want to subject myself
to that anymore."
I'm happy to read that
you've gone back to school.
- Yes.
- Good for you.
- Thank you.
- Where did you leave off
and where did you go back?
Well, I was never able to go
beyond high school
because I started working
at a really young age.
- Because you were a supermodel.
- Exactly.
[Christy] I loved my time at NYU.
I just loved the routine of it.
I loved, like, walking through the park
to get to school.
I loved having the excuse of like,
"No, I'm studying this weekend."
[laughs] "I'm not going anywhere."
Um, really my concentration area
was comparative religion
and Eastern philosophy.
But because it was liberal arts,
I studied American literature,
psychology, I studied architecture.
Those were like, I think, some of the most
important years of my life,
um, because that's where
I was really able to, like,
make the investment in myself, and, like,
who my future self was gonna be.
And I just found so much inspiration
to do so many other things.
[faint cheering, applause]
So, yeah, it was
such a incredible four years.
With the exception of my dad
not being well in the middle of it.
My dad was diagnosed
with lung cancer at 63.
His diagnosis was like, you know,
six months, stage four.
And we pretty much lost him
six months to the day.
After I lost my dad,
I started to think, you know,
could I be
could I be helpful in some way?
In my life, there are two people
in my family who have quit smoking:
me and my dad.
[Christy] I sort of saw the power
of telling my story
and telling my dad's story
and helping other people
to hopefully have a different kind
of story for themselves.
Um, and then I did a lot
of advocating in DC
and, you know, just do what I could.
I just wanted to briefly add that
I'll do everything in my power,
um, as a representative
of the fashion community
to, um, take responsibility in my actions
and to set the best possible example
for those I may influence.
There are a lot of people
in my industry that smoke
and that are photographed smoking
and looking very glamorous in doing so
My effort is to demystify
those glamorous images
that have been so prevalent
for so many years.
Thank you.
In that time, we had the first
"Women and Tobacco" report created.
I was like, "What?" [laughs]
"There's not already a report
about women's health and tobacco?"
Um, and that kind of pissed me off
and also, I think, opened the door
for the kind of work that I do now
with maternal health
and, you know, do more.
Do more than I ever imagined I would do.
I got married in 2003.
When we were pregnant,
uh, we were super excited.
I had had such a full life
before becoming pregnant
that I really felt, like, so ready
for this next adventure
and phase of my life.
But after I delivered
I hemorrhaged.
It became, um, a complication
that had to be managed.
Which was painful,
and I lost a lot of blood.
But my child was born, she was healthy.
I felt like I was being cared for
by the right people
and people that I trusted, so, you know,
relatively speaking,
I felt, um, as good as I could
in this situation.
But after that, I you know,
I wanted to do something about it.
I felt like, you know, why, you know
I was so informed
and had so many resources.
Why didn't-- why did I not know
this was possible?
And why did I not know that,
like, so many women die
from similar complications
around the world.
And I just sort of dove in
and started this organization
called Every Mother Counts.
- Do you want to try?
- [woman] Yes.
- [heartbeat pulsing]
- [Christy laughs]
- It's a healthy girl!
- [laughter]
[Christy] As a woman,
just because of our reproductive systems,
we're more susceptible
to a lot of different things,
but we're not studied as much.
And there's way, way less money invested
in women's health,
um, in terms of research and studies.
And so I just try to use my voice
and become a better advocate for people.
Every time I've come,
it's grown, uh, exponentially.
This building didn't exist two years ago.
This, for anyone's standards,
is incredible.
I would prefer to give birth here
than where I gave birth.
My daughter loves Every Mother Counts
because she's like,
"I'm the reason that you do this.
I'm the reason
that this work even exists."
She knows that she really
changed the course of my life
in more ways than just the obvious.
[blow dryer whirring]
'Cause I have not seen
you all together for a while.
Yeah. Last time
we did a thing with, um
- But not with Cindy, right? No, no
- Not with Cindy.
But I see her, actually,
probably the most.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
Because, well, whenever
she comes to New York
we go out for dinner or whatever.
- More socially
- Ah, yeah.
It's magic fabric, isn't it?
[woman] It's perfect, look.
And the shining is perfect.
It's go time.
[man] Is this from 1986?
[Naomi] This one's vintage
or this one's Peter's?
- No, this one is vintage.
- [Naomi] Ah, vintage.
How much is that?
[man] Um, twenty-four thousand dollars.
- This dress?
- [man] Yeah. That's why--
That's what they're charging now
for Papa's vintage?
[Naomi] Azzedine was my papa.
With him, I learnt about chosen families.
The same for Gianni Versace.
He was very sensitive to feeling me,
like, he pushed me.
He would push me, push me, push me
to step outside and go further
when I didn't think I had it
within myself to do it.
So, when he died
my grief became very bad.
Grief has been a very strange thing
in my life because it doesn't always
I go into a shock and freak out
when it actually happens,
and then later is when I break.
But I kept the sadness inside.
I just dealt with it.
So, I guess when I started using
that was one of the things
I tried to cover up, was grief.
Addiction is such
[sighs] It's such a
[clicks teeth]
It's just a bullshit thing. It really is.
You think,
"Oh, it's gonna heal that wound."
It doesn't.
It can cause such huge fear and anxiety.
So, I got really angry.
There's a lot of issues that I have
from childhood.
Tell me about those.
Well, for instance, not knowing--
not knowing your father,
not seeing your mother.
That brings up a lot of
It manif-- manifests a lot of feelings.
- One of those feelings
- [Barbara Walters] Anger?
Absolutely anger.
But I think that's a really normal thing.
And I mean, I've not always
displayed my anger
in the appropriate, uh, time.
It's always been an unappropriate time.
But, um, it's a manifestation
of a deeper issue, I think, anger.
And that, for me,
I think is based on insecurity,
self-esteem and loneliness and, um
Being abandoned?
Being abandoned. That's what I mean.
That's what my core issues are,
abandonment and rejection and, um
and that puts me
in a real vulnerable space.
And everyone thinks, "Oh, Naomi's
a really tough girl and really strong."
But that's what I want
to appear to people to be like,
because I fear that if I don't,
they're gonna just walk all over me
if they really knew.
When you try to cover something up,
your feelings
You spoke about abandonment.
I tried to cover that with something.
You can't cover it.
I was killing myself.
It was very hurtful.
For my mistakes,
I've always owned up to them.
I chose to go to rehab.
It was one of the best and only things
I could have done for myself at that time.
It is scary to pick up the mirror
and look into the mirror.
It is scary.
And it's taken me many years
to work on and deal with.
And it does still come up sometimes.
But I just now have the tools how
to deal with it now when it comes up.
And I have to think of something
outside of myself.
Something greater than myself.
If I have people in my life that I love
and I see that they need help,
of course I'm going to offer my help.
I'm there. I'm very loyal
to the people that I love.
[Marc Jacobs] There was a time
where I was partying,
um, maybe five or six years ago,
and Naomi would be ringing my phone
and I would see on the screen, "Naomi."
I was like, "I don't know how she knows
that I'm up to no good, but she does."
[John Galliano]
She brought me joy, huge joy,
when I was in a place that was so dark.
Naomi did arrange for me
to go to rehab in Arizona.
I mean, she's super in every way.
So, it's good that I tell this story
because apart from work,
she's human too.
[Jacobs] Naomi is an extraordinary person,
who's super caring and loving,
especially to the next generation.
Which is as personal
and as, like, you know,
disconnected from fashion as you can get.
Naomi is probably one of the hardest
working people in the industry,
'cause she's doing other work as well.
When I started Fashion For Relief,
it was just an idea.
[Fabien Baron] She's working on many,
many humanitarian causes
that are really, very, very beautiful,
and I think it's amazing
that she's that today.
Fashion For Relief only works because
we all collaborate and come together.
Naomi always wanted
to bring people with her, and now,
she has become a stateswoman.
[Naomi] I just feel like
I stuck to my integrity.
I'm coming from a place of authenticity,
I think, because it's not just now.
That began for me in 1993,
when I went to South Africa
with Nelson Mandela.
[Mandela speaking indistinctly]
Thank you. [laughs]
So, can I call you grandfather?
Absolutely. I told you that I've
adopted you as my granddaughter.
[both laughing]
[Naomi] President Mandela made me
his honorable granddaughter
and made me part of
the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
[all singing]
[Naomi] I didn't really
have any understanding.
I had no knowledge
of what the word philanthropy meant.
[indistinct chatter]
I got to this hospital, I remember.
The children are all dying,
pretty much, from leukemia
or some sort of blood disorder.
They had made cakes and singing.
[all singing]
And I just burst out crying.
[scattered clapping, chatter]
I had to learn as I went along.
[clapping fades]
Bye!
[Naomi] I started to like
what I was doing.
Especially because
I was doing it for Grandad.
Well, he taught me so much.
He taught me just not to be afraid
to use my voice and help others.
It's a great honor to have
such an outstanding model.
She is one of that generation
that has chosen the world
as the theater of her operation.
I really love you. Thank you.
[applause, cheering]
[Naomi] Once I understood
what I was able to do,
it was just one focus.
["Best of My Love" by The Emotions
playing on stereo]
[Naomi] What an incredible view.
Look at that. Look at Africa.
Look how beautiful.
This is heaven.
It's like, it's the Indian Ocean.
Look how stunning.
Look at me.
[Naomi] People in Africa
and the Middle East and India
I just feel badly that
I, too, with my industry,
just ignored them.
And dis--
I guess you call it discrimination.
We just did not let them in.
I was a part of that, too. And I don't
I feel ashamed for that.
[photographer] Absolutely stunning.
[Naomi] So, when I work now,
I feel like I'm not working for me.
I feel like I am working for the culture.
[shutter firing rapidly]
[man] Wow. I love this.
Where I am in my life right now is really
focusing on those emerging markets
that our industry has ignored,
that didn't let them in
to our fashion shows, our fashion weeks.
J'adore, j'adore, j'adore!
[both laughing]
Those are the countries now
that I want to help have the same.
Why not? They have talent there too.
[Naomi on PA] Arise Fashion Week
has strived to showcase African fashion,
African designers and African style,
bringing them to the global stage,
shining a bright light
on their creativity and excellence.
They are the future and the time is now.
[applause]
[Tinie Tempah] Though we've always had
the best creativity in Nigeria,
I didn't really feel like this was a place
where that creativity would be embraced
and celebrated in this modern times.
[Naomi] I want to use who I am
to change and to help young creatives
be where they should be
and try to make up for lost time.
This is where I think
I want to leave my legacy.
I stayed in Nigeria
from December 4th, 2020,
till March 5th, '21.
So I stayed there all that time.
'Cause I didn't see any point
of going any-- I don't--
I just went to Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria.
I stayed there the whole--
the whole time on the continent.
And then I came back here.
So that I hadn't been back since then,
so it had been a minute.
- [man] Wow.
- Yeah.
I planned to take my daughter
on this one, but I didn't work out.
- So, next time.
- She's still young though
- But I took her to Senegal.
- Malaria and stuff
My daughter, she's the love of my life,
she is everything to me,
and it's the best thing I've ever done
in my whole life, is having my daughter.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Cindy, how many hours have you been
in hair and make-up your whole life?
[laughter]
I used to say if I had a--
like, a nickel for every
for every hour I was in hair and makeup,
and then I was like, "Oh wait, I do."
[laughing]
- A certain benchmark, things that
- Yes.
- you know, are always there.
- Yeah, it's funny.
Mine, mostly, weren't really in fashion.
- Right.
- Mine were fashion adjacent.
But you were, sort of, branding before
branding was kind of
- Yeah.
- a thing, right? In a way.
[Cindy] I didn't really know
to call it that, but yeah.
No, it wouldn't be called that yet,
no because, God
[Cindy] It was just like doing
your own stuff, and
- 'Cause I did my exercise video.
- Yeah, yeah.
I did a calendar.
I did a little make-up book, actually.
Um, yeah, so
But people always said about you,
didn't they?
Like Cindy's-- you know,
she's a businesswoman. She's got it.
Like, you know. And now it'd be like,
"Oh, she's a brand."
[Cindy] I don't normally refer to myself
in the third person,
but I'm a human being and my job is,
like, being Cindy Crawford.
I've let my career
reflect what I'm going through in my life.
It's like, I'm not trying to be 55,
doing the same things I was when I was 25.
Back then I did Sports Illustrated,
which was not
a good experience for me and
because I had an opinion [laughs]
and that was not well received.
So, then I was like, "You know what?
I'm going to do my own swimsuit calendar."
Like, that was, like,
my first foray into doing my own thing.
[applause, cheering]
And it was successful and I raised money
for my charity, and it was great.
So then that emboldened me
to do other things.
I'm like,
"Okay, I've done that, now what?"
[overlapping chatter]
When I was 35
and my Revlon contract was up,
it was kind of like,
"If I'm going to do my own thing,
this feels like the right time."
And I did not go forward
with re-signing with Revlon.
I decided to do my own skincare line,
and Meaningful Beauty was born.
Instead of taking money up front,
which is kind of what models do,
it was like, I'm a partner,
a full partner,
I have equity, I'm building a business.
I sit on the board.
And then I also was asked
to do a furniture line
because, you know, style is style,
including how you live.
So, I started Cindy Crawford Home
15 years ago,
and I really like it because
it's not so dependent on me
not having a wrinkle or not getting old.
It's just about me creating a sanctuary
in my home for myself and my family.
And that's kind of timeless.
I always knew I wanted a family,
so I feel very blessed that
Rande and I
have been married 23 years.
And have very similar ideas
about parenting and how to live our life.
Our kids, when they were little,
it was really hard to explain
to them, like,
what Mommy's work is, like,
"What is a model?"
And "Why are those people
taking your picture?"
"What is fame?"
I just remember coming home
when they were little,
and especially my son would be like
[sharp inhale] "Wash your face."
They wanted, you know, Cindy.
And no make-up [chuckles]
hair pulled back and, um,
you know, sitting on the floor
playing Play-Doh or cooking dinner,
whatever their version of Mom
they needed in that moment was.
Obviously, kids become
your main focus of life,
and then you work in the other things
you are passionate about or want to do.
Ever since I started my career and was
able to actually help raise awareness,
help raise money, meeting with families,
meeting with patients,
doing whatever I can.
The type of leukemia that my brother was
diagnosed with was a death sentence.
And it's not anymore and these kids
are going on to have their own children.
My children,
now that they're getting older
It's been interesting
having Kaia and Presley both, kind of,
dip their toes into the fashion world.
I can help guide them right now
and give them a little exposure
to see if they really like it
or they just think they like it.
[Jacobs] I met Kaia Cindy brought her
to the-- to the studio we were shooting at
and Cindy said, like,
"Okay, I'm gonna leave Kaia,
I'm not gonna be a stage mother
and try to--"
But, you know, you could see
she was proud and excited for Kaia.
And Kaia was the ultimate professional.
[Kaia] There wasn't much
going through my mind.
I think once the music starts
and they're like, "Go!"
you kind of just lose everything
and it's like an instinct.
[woman] And I heard you were proud,
watching on.
Oh, yeah, it was incredible.
She came to my first show,
so I had to come to hers.
It was so fun.
[Cindy] When Kaia started modeling,
people would say,
"You're gonna let her model?" I'm like,
"If you have a daughter
over the age of eight, she is modeling,"
because modeling
is now accessible to anyone.
Social media was the great equalizer.
Everybody can do it.
Everybody can show whatever they want.
And it's changed the balance
of the hierarchy.
Back then, you needed,
sort of, the photographers,
the editors, the designers.
To be a model now,
they are their own brands.
They get booked directly
through Instagram.
That didn't exist before.
So the supermodel now has to have
a big social media presence
to be able to reach the heights
of what the girls did back in the day.
I realized things were changing
when clients are asking your agent,
"Well, how many Instagram followers
does she have?"
Before, like, the magazines
could kind of dictate,
"This is what is fashion."
But when social media happened,
there's such an explosion
of images that we see.
A lot of them are very different than
we were used to seeing in magazines.
[Robin Givhan] Right now,
there's greater diversity
in a lot of different categories.
They can speak up and be heard
and their voices
can really be amplified in a way
that wasn't available
to previous generations.
The question is, will it endure?
[Cindy] Maybe the idea
of what a model is
and represents now has picked up steam,
and maybe that's a great thing.
You can find
You can find anything, you know,
and there's all these different ideas
of beauty now.
And all of a sudden,
that is creating its own stars,
its own momentum,
its own energy and its own ideas.
There's some feeling that maybe
we helped the train leave the station.
And, I mean, now I'm just
Kaia's mom, by the way.
You know, my Instagram
should probably just be "Kaia's mom,"
and I'd probably have more followers.
- [blow dryer whirring]
- [people chattering]
I can't believe we're all, like,
from small towns all over the world
and then we're like,
"Wait, we're all here,"
- today shooting this thing, you know.
- Exactly.
With Steven.
I just I know we're gonna get it.
Like, there's no question
when you're with Steven,
you're gonna get the shot. That's it.
Steven Meisel today, he's very private.
But I feel like for insurance purposes,
for what we're looking for in this group,
we'll all feel well looked-after,
and, like, the image will be something
that will endure.
He has, sort of, the most consistent,
holistic, beautiful
And it's, like,
it could be fast and simple.
it doesn't have to be
We used to always call it giving birth.
Um, it doesn't have to be giving birth.
I think the story, the direction,
the angle and the trust, really.
The image, if you look back
over the time of any of our careers,
the ones that still hold up
are those ones.
All the stars kind of aligned.
[Linda] They were all a character.
'Cause it certainly wasn't me.
That's why I love the fashion world
so much.
It's, like, a way of getting to be
who you want to be.
I wanted to be a model,
but becoming a mom,
that's the most fulfilling thing
that has ever happened to me.
My son
He's fun
he's easy
kind
We're a small family,
it's just me and him.
He's been my rock.
He's been so supportive.
[Kim Jones] I didn't really know Linda.
But, you know, I'd loved her as a fan,
and and I wrote her a letter 'cause
I'd seen the People magazine article
and I just saw her
and she looked beautiful.
And I thought, you know,
why don't I ask and see if she wants to do
a show for Fendi in New York.
So, it's a straight walk and then--
And we'll do it now.
Yeah, so what we'll do is,
we'll look towards you,
start clapping
and then you come towards us.
- [Linda] What-- Why are you clap--?
- Because it's you.
- Not for me, no!
- Don't be silly.
- I'm here for you!
- We're celebrating you as well.
- [technician] Then pull it a bit longer.
- We're here for you as well.
- [Linda] I'm here to support you.
- And you.
[Jones] We really wanted to celebrate her.
And it was, like, a real, sort of
safe space for her to be in,
and like, you know, her family, almost.
- [indistinct chatter]
- I want a hug too!
[faint up-tempo music playing]
I haven't been in this situation in years.
Uh, I I feel like that.
You know, and this is a celebration.
So, let's do it.
[Linda] After all these years
I just didn't want to hide anymore.
I didn't
[voice shaking]
I wanted to start living again.
So when I get in the middle of you,
can you step forward?
[man speaking, indistinct]
Okay.
No one ever held my age
against me, ever.
And I think our generation of models
made people's perceptions
of what beauty is
change.
Beauty doesn't have to have an ending
or a expiry date.
They used to say beauty
is not sustainable.
It's, like, youth is not sustainable.
Beauty is. There's a difference.
[applause, cheering]
[Jones] Watching her on a runway
and just how she owns it and controls it
and knows how to play with an audience,
it's almost like an actor.
And I think that's the kind of thing
that's really fascinating to watch.
- [animated chatter]
- [woman hums fanfare]
[people cheering, whistling]
[Jones] Backstage after the show,
when Linda came out
- Feel the bag. Feel it.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
all the girls just freaked out,
all the new--
You know, new generation of models
was like, "Oh, my God. That's Linda."
You looked gorgeous.
[Jones] They were, like, just, like,
all in shock.
And that was just really sweet because,
you know, that's their idol.
And the one thing with supermodels
is they still appeal to young people
because they, you know, that's what
those girls want to-- wanted to be.
- [people calling out]
- [cameras clicking]
[Linda] Oh
[excited chatter]
- [man] Hey!
- [Linda] Hey!
[all chattering]
- [Cindy] How are you?
- [Linda] I'm here. [laughs]
- I know, I'm proud of you.
- [Linda] It's gonna be fun.
- [Cindy] I know!
- [Linda] This sounds like a reunion.
[Cindy] I know.
I don't like that we're all split up.
[Christy] You wanted to separate?
I was like, "Who asked for this?"
[laughs]
- Hi.
- Hi.
- [Guido] Hi.
- [Christy] Which one are you?
- [Linda] I don't know.
- [woman] You're next door. Next door.
Oh, okay. You're right.
We can open our curtain.
- [Linda] Oh, nice. Oh, okay.
- [Christy] Okay.
[Linda] Okay, I'll see you in a minute.
- [Naomi] Good to see you.
- [Linda] How are you?
- [Naomi] Good, thank you.
- [Linda] Nice to see you.
- You too.
- See you in a bit.
So hair's done.
[man laughing]
The hair's done. Okay.
I would love to take my hat off but
I'm not gonna take my hat off until
[woman] Do you want me
to grab Sandy and Guido?
No. Well, yeah, actually,
they should go first.
- Sure. Yeah.
- [Guido] Hi.
So, I always massage Linda first,
she demands it.
Yeah. [laughs]
Who's your easiest client?
- You.
- Of course.
- Of course.
- Don't believe a word you've heard, right?
- Don't believe anything.
- [laughing]
[stylist] Me or her? Okay.
[Christy] It feels, like, consistent
with some of the things I sent.
- [stylist] Right.
- But also
- today, modern, but--
- Elevated. Yeah. Yeah.
- [Christy] Yeah. I like it.
- It almost feels real.
- And not retro, it's
- I know from him, he wanted it to feel
- Ourselves.
- Yeah.
And he's like, "It's not a fashion shoot."
Meanwhile, we have
a bunch of fashion stuff.
- Yeah.
- But, this is
- Yeah.
- elevated. You know, it's not jeans
- but it feels
- No, especially if it's next to others
- Exactly, yeah. Yeah.
- who might have more going on.
- Levels.
- Yeah.
Okay, I think we're done here.
[Cindy] I like the double look, don't you?
- More moda.
- Yeah.
You guys always make it sound so chic.
[laughs]
I'm like, "I like the bigger one."
[stylist laughs]
- [woman] I love it.
- Yeah.
That's cool.
[Linda] Those Manolo are the ones
he made for me a long time ago.
[stylist] Perfect shape, too.
[Linda] They used to
be called Evangelista
and now they're just called
Now they're called Gelista.
- Or now, yeah, they have the bow and
- Little bow on the front, yes.
[Linda] That's from the early '90s.
It's still good. It's timeless.
[Christy] Yeah. 'Cause, I mean,
we're never really together like that.
[stylist] I know. When was the last time,
do you guys know?
That-- With Steven, and a group,
not in years, honestly.
[man] Last looks, last checks.
[Christy, whispers] Let's go. [chuckles]
[Cindy] Let's do one check in the mirror.
[Christy] How are we doing?
I think I need less hairspray. [laughs]
Oh, too late!
[Linda] I don't believe we got
the four of us together.
- That's been a while.
- [Naomi] I can't believe
- [Christy] I still can't remember.
- [Cindy] Vanity Fair, I was thinking.
- [Christy] Vanity Fair. You're right.
- [Cindy] Okay, yes.
And it wasn't just the four of us.
- [Christy] With Stephanie and Claudia.
- [Cindy] And Claudia.
[Linda] Claudia was there,
yeah, Stephanie.
- They were our generation.
- [Cindy] They were our generation.
[Christy] I mean, I think everything
about us here today
is, sort of, the opposite
of what I imagined
when I first came into the industry.
Like, I thought it was, like,
gonna be a minute
and life would go on.
And life has gone on.
But it's been
[echoing laughter]
decades.
[Todd Oldham]
Magic happens when the stars align.
When an exquisite model shows up
with the right designer
and the right photographer
in the right light and the right make-up.
You can do these
transcendent things that
[camera shutter clicks]
last forever.
They were refining, you know,
images to become very iconic.
[shutter click]
I-I'm just flattered.
I'm glad I reached that level.
[Goodman] They brought their artistry
[shutter clicks]
to the image.
It's really phenomenal.
[Jeanne Beker] You can't say every model
in the fashion business
[shutter clicks]
is an artist.
But some really are.
[shutter clicks]
Models still are glamorous
because that's what we do.
Um, and that's what people
They want to look at it
and they want to see it.
[Emily Bierman] The photographs
had such a huge impact
in the larger landscape of art
because they're
endlessly intriguing to look at.
They're like when you
look at Renaissance paintings.
The Mona Lisa was the face of her era.
[Bierman] Today, there's a strong market
for fashion photography.
At auction, you might see prices
that are a couple thousand dollars
to a million dollars or more because
they're icons of a generation.
Those girls defined power for women.
It was women supporting each other.
And people listened to them.
They were the first influencers
of fashion.
[Jacobs] Cindy, Linda, Christy, Naomi.
They're larger-than-life.
They're names that everybody knows.
People who've never bought a designer
dress know who those women are.
[Galliano] Those girls took it to a level
of professionalism and perfection.
They're super in more ways
than they're real.
[Suzy Menkes] I think the fact
the super models are still around
proves that they really
never went out of fashion.
[Enninful] Cindy, Linda, Christy and Naomi
are still redefining what it means
to be a model.
- [Christy] I'm so happy to see you.
- [man] Let's start it with Christy.
- [Naomi] So, that's a good thing, I guess.
- [Linda] I know.
[Cindy laughs]
[Naomi] Can we go, like, straight?
[Cindy] We want to go, like,
just more like
["Freedom! '90" by George Michael playing]
[Linda] Oh, oh. Okay, get us in the mood!
Get us in the mood.
[woman] Ready to go?
- [Linda] Ready!
- Okay.
[Christy] There's been lots of phases,
and we've all gone through
so many things in our own lives,
personally, and professionally.
[younger Christy]
I don't think I've changed that much.
The same people that I started
to hang around with when I first started
are the same people that I'm with now.
[Naomi] I think when
you come together with people
that have been part of your journey
and you consider them chosen family,
- I think that's emotional.
- [phone camera clicks]
Just take it day by day
and what comes, comes.
And all the big girls are the nicest ones.
[Linda] I feel blessed
that we're here today.
There's something about
that shared history that we have.
We can never have it with anybody else.
[all singing]
♪and make them true somehow ♪
All we have to see [laughing]
Is that I don't belong to you ♪
And you don't belong to me ♪
Yeah, yeah ♪
["Freedom! '90" continues]
[man] I think it's a bit--
We've got so many nods to Pepsi
that for you to have a Pepsi can
- is a bit of no-no.
- I don't need it, no.
- But it's kind of, "what the fuck?"
- And we know the environment.
- Yes, yeah.
- Yes. Okay.
And we'll just play around with that,
and then we'll do one different shot here.
But I just want to get something
in the can straight away.
- Okay. Okay.
- And I think it will work.
You haven't changed at all over 30 years,
but you know that.
I redo this commercial every ten years
just to make sure.
I'm very flattered
that I'm the 2021 edition.
Just come a little bit more this way.
Come forward.
[camera clicking]
A little bit more this--
That's it. That's it.
[Cindy] I never in a million years thought
I would still be in front of the camera
[chuckles] 35 five years
after I started modeling.
I mean, uh, no. Yeah, even more.
I started modeling when I was 17.
So, that's a long time. [chuckles]
[camera clicking]
I don't think there was a
like, a long-term plan
for most young women who started modeling.
Because we thought about maybe
you'd have a five-year career.
[Younger Cindy] It would be silly
for me to say
that physical beauty's not important
for our job because it is.
But I think everyone knows it's--
It sounds such a cliché to say
that, you know, beauty's on the inside,
but-- but it's really true.
- [camera clicking]
- Great, that's good.
But there's a kind
of physical beauty that's about
physically how you look, but I mean,
that doesn't last very long.
Aging.
Your body changes and everything changes.
[breathing, murmuring to herself]
[people murmuring]
I just got into a furnace. No, I--
[man] Are you okay?
No, I think I'm going through menopause,
it's pre-early menopause.
- Pre-menopause.
- [man] You want a little bit of wind?
- There's nothing you can do.
- [woman] We'll give you some wind.
It just happens. Shit, Lord.
- [man laughs]
- One minute, I'm fine.
Next minute, just this furnace comes up.
- I got some wind for you.
- Why do men not get menopause?
[Naomi] There have been times when
I've said, "Okay, I'm gonna slow down,
I'm gonna pull out,
I'm gonna go do other things."
But my energy is still the same.
You hope that the way you are
will sort of transcend your image.
I don't like just being, like,
"I'm a model."
[laughs] "I'm a model,
and that's all I am."
[younger Christy] So I've been
doing a lot less everything.
I just have a lot of interests in my life.
It's not that I'm stopping.
I'm just being a lot more selective.
I just hope that when this is all over,
that I take it well.
I put my whole heart into it.
Um
I know it's gonna come to an end one day.
- [indistinct]
- [laughs]
[Linda] So many barriers have been
taken down since I started modeling.
And age was one of them. And
you see Cindy
and Christy
and Naomi.
They're flourishing
and they're beautiful, and
[breath shaking]
they can work forever.
[Linda] I didn't sleep last night.
It's okay, as long as
as long as I'm gonna live it's okay.
I've just been dealt so many blows
that I feel like this is just another one
and I'll get over it, 'cause,
what am I gonna do, I have to get over it.
Being in the vain world
that I was working in and living in,
there were all these tools
we were presented with.
And, um, I used some of those tools.
[voice trembling] Because
I wanted to like
what I saw in the mirror,
and the commercial said
I would like myself better.
But what happened to my body
after CoolSculpting
became my nightmare.
I can't like myself
with these hard masses and protrusions
sticking out of my body.
I-- I just can't.
Had someone told me you're going
to grow hard fat, that we can't remove,
maybe,
I would never have taken the risk.
I wish we could just really
see ourselves
in the mirror.
Non-distorted.
Without ever having seen ourselves
with a filter or retouched.
[voice trembling]
That is what has thrown me
into this deep depression that I'm in.
It's like a trap. You're trapped.
With yourself, that you hate.
It's been years since I worked.
And years of hiding.
I never went out the door
unless it was maybe
a doctor's appointment
that I had to go to.
[distant siren wailing]
[Linda] Let's go get that poison
shot in me.
- [doctor] Tell us your name and birthday.
- [machine beeping]
Five, ten, '65.
Linda Evangelista.
That's a beautiful name.
So might as well go with it.
Linda?
- Evangelista, there's something
- Evangelista is beautiful.
But Linda? I never liked that name.
[doctor] So one hour on this,
one hour on the Cytoxan
and then one hour at night
and 30 minutes on the [indistinct]
So, it's three and a half.
[Linda]
And I keep saying I'm not suffering.
[doctor] Yeah.
Just a little inconvenienced here.
I was approached to do this, and I will
do anything that I can for breast cancer.
And for me, this is not work,
this is pleasure.
And to do something for this cause
that I'm very, very, um
[Linda voiceover] It's always been
a charity dear to my heart.
And ironic that I ended up
with breast cancer myself.
A little over three years ago,
I was diagnosed.
The decision was very easy to make
to have a double mastectomy.
But it came back.
[Dr. Shapiro] So right now,
the treatment seems
to be going as planned, um
It's really good that you brought it
to everyone's attention
because it was a finding that I think
would have been easily overlooked.
And you're very attuned to your body.
I mean, that's what you did
to make your living.
And, you know,
and so it all comes together
that someone with your life experience
would be attuned to something going on.
I was pushing on it, because
I thought maybe it was, um,
because I'm told it was rib number four
that I had sawn off
from one of my lung surgeries.
So I thought it was the the nub that--
[Shapiro] I can see how
you would think that.
And in fact, that is
[Linda] I have a genetic mutation
called Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome,
where I had developed little weak spots
and air would escape
and it would cause my lung to collapse.
I don't know how many
surgeries I've had.
I've had so many.
Scars for me are trophies.
Like, I overcame something and I won.
I battled something. And I survived.
So, I could celebrate a scar.
But to be disfigured, is not a trophy.
I can't see how anybody
would want to dress me.
I just can't. I can't.
Now to lose my job
that I love so much and [inhales]
[crying] lose my livelihood.
My heart is broken.
I loved my job.
[people murmuring, indistinct]
- [man] This, um
- [woman] But this was more for Christy.
[man] And that--
Yeah. She wants to wear some, like
- What's this one? Celine?
- [man] That's Celine.
Oh, my God. This is the total
of Naomi's rings. Five million.
I would show her. [chuckles]
[blow dryer whirring]
[Christy] I haven't really done that much
over the years, 'cause I feel like--
I used to feel guilty to do, like,
trips for myself.
- [Cindy] Yeah.
- When I traveled a lot.
- Right.
- So now that my kids are like
- barely notice that I'm gone.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Actually, one of my other girlfriends,
she would call home
and her daughters are like,
"Where are you?"
- And she's like, "I'm out of the country."
- And she's like, "You are?"
- 'Cause at a certain point, they don't--
- "Didn't you make my breakfast?"
Yeah, at a certain point
they just don't even know.
back in the UK.
So, I'm trying to think.
Thursday, Friday, I'm in the UK.
Saturday, I'm in the UK,
and Sunday I'm in the UK.
Is that okay? Would that work?
We all have so much history,
and I think that's
that's the fun thing
of getting everyone together.
It's like a high school reunion.
I work Thursday, Friday, and
Like, just, all of our lives have gotten
so busy and complicated now too.
To get everyone
in the same city at the same
[make-up artist] Which is amazing.
It's the first time we're all together
in our 50s, our collective 50s.
Um
We're all mothers now.
Changed.
[Christy] In 1996
I remember being in Paris
for the couture and
I-- I gained a little bit of weight
because I'd quit smoking,
and I got released from a show.
And I remember feeling like,
"Well, I'm not gonna let this, like,
make me feel bad."
I just made a decision for myself,
which is probably
one of the best decisions I've made.
"And so, you know, maybe now is the time.
Like, you know, I don't really want to
I don't really want to subject myself
to that anymore."
I'm happy to read that
you've gone back to school.
- Yes.
- Good for you.
- Thank you.
- Where did you leave off
and where did you go back?
Well, I was never able to go
beyond high school
because I started working
at a really young age.
- Because you were a supermodel.
- Exactly.
[Christy] I loved my time at NYU.
I just loved the routine of it.
I loved, like, walking through the park
to get to school.
I loved having the excuse of like,
"No, I'm studying this weekend."
[laughs] "I'm not going anywhere."
Um, really my concentration area
was comparative religion
and Eastern philosophy.
But because it was liberal arts,
I studied American literature,
psychology, I studied architecture.
Those were like, I think, some of the most
important years of my life,
um, because that's where
I was really able to, like,
make the investment in myself, and, like,
who my future self was gonna be.
And I just found so much inspiration
to do so many other things.
[faint cheering, applause]
So, yeah, it was
such a incredible four years.
With the exception of my dad
not being well in the middle of it.
My dad was diagnosed
with lung cancer at 63.
His diagnosis was like, you know,
six months, stage four.
And we pretty much lost him
six months to the day.
After I lost my dad,
I started to think, you know,
could I be
could I be helpful in some way?
In my life, there are two people
in my family who have quit smoking:
me and my dad.
[Christy] I sort of saw the power
of telling my story
and telling my dad's story
and helping other people
to hopefully have a different kind
of story for themselves.
Um, and then I did a lot
of advocating in DC
and, you know, just do what I could.
I just wanted to briefly add that
I'll do everything in my power,
um, as a representative
of the fashion community
to, um, take responsibility in my actions
and to set the best possible example
for those I may influence.
There are a lot of people
in my industry that smoke
and that are photographed smoking
and looking very glamorous in doing so
My effort is to demystify
those glamorous images
that have been so prevalent
for so many years.
Thank you.
In that time, we had the first
"Women and Tobacco" report created.
I was like, "What?" [laughs]
"There's not already a report
about women's health and tobacco?"
Um, and that kind of pissed me off
and also, I think, opened the door
for the kind of work that I do now
with maternal health
and, you know, do more.
Do more than I ever imagined I would do.
I got married in 2003.
When we were pregnant,
uh, we were super excited.
I had had such a full life
before becoming pregnant
that I really felt, like, so ready
for this next adventure
and phase of my life.
But after I delivered
I hemorrhaged.
It became, um, a complication
that had to be managed.
Which was painful,
and I lost a lot of blood.
But my child was born, she was healthy.
I felt like I was being cared for
by the right people
and people that I trusted, so, you know,
relatively speaking,
I felt, um, as good as I could
in this situation.
But after that, I you know,
I wanted to do something about it.
I felt like, you know, why, you know
I was so informed
and had so many resources.
Why didn't-- why did I not know
this was possible?
And why did I not know that,
like, so many women die
from similar complications
around the world.
And I just sort of dove in
and started this organization
called Every Mother Counts.
- Do you want to try?
- [woman] Yes.
- [heartbeat pulsing]
- [Christy laughs]
- It's a healthy girl!
- [laughter]
[Christy] As a woman,
just because of our reproductive systems,
we're more susceptible
to a lot of different things,
but we're not studied as much.
And there's way, way less money invested
in women's health,
um, in terms of research and studies.
And so I just try to use my voice
and become a better advocate for people.
Every time I've come,
it's grown, uh, exponentially.
This building didn't exist two years ago.
This, for anyone's standards,
is incredible.
I would prefer to give birth here
than where I gave birth.
My daughter loves Every Mother Counts
because she's like,
"I'm the reason that you do this.
I'm the reason
that this work even exists."
She knows that she really
changed the course of my life
in more ways than just the obvious.
[blow dryer whirring]
'Cause I have not seen
you all together for a while.
Yeah. Last time
we did a thing with, um
- But not with Cindy, right? No, no
- Not with Cindy.
But I see her, actually,
probably the most.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
Because, well, whenever
she comes to New York
we go out for dinner or whatever.
- More socially
- Ah, yeah.
It's magic fabric, isn't it?
[woman] It's perfect, look.
And the shining is perfect.
It's go time.
[man] Is this from 1986?
[Naomi] This one's vintage
or this one's Peter's?
- No, this one is vintage.
- [Naomi] Ah, vintage.
How much is that?
[man] Um, twenty-four thousand dollars.
- This dress?
- [man] Yeah. That's why--
That's what they're charging now
for Papa's vintage?
[Naomi] Azzedine was my papa.
With him, I learnt about chosen families.
The same for Gianni Versace.
He was very sensitive to feeling me,
like, he pushed me.
He would push me, push me, push me
to step outside and go further
when I didn't think I had it
within myself to do it.
So, when he died
my grief became very bad.
Grief has been a very strange thing
in my life because it doesn't always
I go into a shock and freak out
when it actually happens,
and then later is when I break.
But I kept the sadness inside.
I just dealt with it.
So, I guess when I started using
that was one of the things
I tried to cover up, was grief.
Addiction is such
[sighs] It's such a
[clicks teeth]
It's just a bullshit thing. It really is.
You think,
"Oh, it's gonna heal that wound."
It doesn't.
It can cause such huge fear and anxiety.
So, I got really angry.
There's a lot of issues that I have
from childhood.
Tell me about those.
Well, for instance, not knowing--
not knowing your father,
not seeing your mother.
That brings up a lot of
It manif-- manifests a lot of feelings.
- One of those feelings
- [Barbara Walters] Anger?
Absolutely anger.
But I think that's a really normal thing.
And I mean, I've not always
displayed my anger
in the appropriate, uh, time.
It's always been an unappropriate time.
But, um, it's a manifestation
of a deeper issue, I think, anger.
And that, for me,
I think is based on insecurity,
self-esteem and loneliness and, um
Being abandoned?
Being abandoned. That's what I mean.
That's what my core issues are,
abandonment and rejection and, um
and that puts me
in a real vulnerable space.
And everyone thinks, "Oh, Naomi's
a really tough girl and really strong."
But that's what I want
to appear to people to be like,
because I fear that if I don't,
they're gonna just walk all over me
if they really knew.
When you try to cover something up,
your feelings
You spoke about abandonment.
I tried to cover that with something.
You can't cover it.
I was killing myself.
It was very hurtful.
For my mistakes,
I've always owned up to them.
I chose to go to rehab.
It was one of the best and only things
I could have done for myself at that time.
It is scary to pick up the mirror
and look into the mirror.
It is scary.
And it's taken me many years
to work on and deal with.
And it does still come up sometimes.
But I just now have the tools how
to deal with it now when it comes up.
And I have to think of something
outside of myself.
Something greater than myself.
If I have people in my life that I love
and I see that they need help,
of course I'm going to offer my help.
I'm there. I'm very loyal
to the people that I love.
[Marc Jacobs] There was a time
where I was partying,
um, maybe five or six years ago,
and Naomi would be ringing my phone
and I would see on the screen, "Naomi."
I was like, "I don't know how she knows
that I'm up to no good, but she does."
[John Galliano]
She brought me joy, huge joy,
when I was in a place that was so dark.
Naomi did arrange for me
to go to rehab in Arizona.
I mean, she's super in every way.
So, it's good that I tell this story
because apart from work,
she's human too.
[Jacobs] Naomi is an extraordinary person,
who's super caring and loving,
especially to the next generation.
Which is as personal
and as, like, you know,
disconnected from fashion as you can get.
Naomi is probably one of the hardest
working people in the industry,
'cause she's doing other work as well.
When I started Fashion For Relief,
it was just an idea.
[Fabien Baron] She's working on many,
many humanitarian causes
that are really, very, very beautiful,
and I think it's amazing
that she's that today.
Fashion For Relief only works because
we all collaborate and come together.
Naomi always wanted
to bring people with her, and now,
she has become a stateswoman.
[Naomi] I just feel like
I stuck to my integrity.
I'm coming from a place of authenticity,
I think, because it's not just now.
That began for me in 1993,
when I went to South Africa
with Nelson Mandela.
[Mandela speaking indistinctly]
Thank you. [laughs]
So, can I call you grandfather?
Absolutely. I told you that I've
adopted you as my granddaughter.
[both laughing]
[Naomi] President Mandela made me
his honorable granddaughter
and made me part of
the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
[all singing]
[Naomi] I didn't really
have any understanding.
I had no knowledge
of what the word philanthropy meant.
[indistinct chatter]
I got to this hospital, I remember.
The children are all dying,
pretty much, from leukemia
or some sort of blood disorder.
They had made cakes and singing.
[all singing]
And I just burst out crying.
[scattered clapping, chatter]
I had to learn as I went along.
[clapping fades]
Bye!
[Naomi] I started to like
what I was doing.
Especially because
I was doing it for Grandad.
Well, he taught me so much.
He taught me just not to be afraid
to use my voice and help others.
It's a great honor to have
such an outstanding model.
She is one of that generation
that has chosen the world
as the theater of her operation.
I really love you. Thank you.
[applause, cheering]
[Naomi] Once I understood
what I was able to do,
it was just one focus.
["Best of My Love" by The Emotions
playing on stereo]
[Naomi] What an incredible view.
Look at that. Look at Africa.
Look how beautiful.
This is heaven.
It's like, it's the Indian Ocean.
Look how stunning.
Look at me.
[Naomi] People in Africa
and the Middle East and India
I just feel badly that
I, too, with my industry,
just ignored them.
And dis--
I guess you call it discrimination.
We just did not let them in.
I was a part of that, too. And I don't
I feel ashamed for that.
[photographer] Absolutely stunning.
[Naomi] So, when I work now,
I feel like I'm not working for me.
I feel like I am working for the culture.
[shutter firing rapidly]
[man] Wow. I love this.
Where I am in my life right now is really
focusing on those emerging markets
that our industry has ignored,
that didn't let them in
to our fashion shows, our fashion weeks.
J'adore, j'adore, j'adore!
[both laughing]
Those are the countries now
that I want to help have the same.
Why not? They have talent there too.
[Naomi on PA] Arise Fashion Week
has strived to showcase African fashion,
African designers and African style,
bringing them to the global stage,
shining a bright light
on their creativity and excellence.
They are the future and the time is now.
[applause]
[Tinie Tempah] Though we've always had
the best creativity in Nigeria,
I didn't really feel like this was a place
where that creativity would be embraced
and celebrated in this modern times.
[Naomi] I want to use who I am
to change and to help young creatives
be where they should be
and try to make up for lost time.
This is where I think
I want to leave my legacy.
I stayed in Nigeria
from December 4th, 2020,
till March 5th, '21.
So I stayed there all that time.
'Cause I didn't see any point
of going any-- I don't--
I just went to Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria.
I stayed there the whole--
the whole time on the continent.
And then I came back here.
So that I hadn't been back since then,
so it had been a minute.
- [man] Wow.
- Yeah.
I planned to take my daughter
on this one, but I didn't work out.
- So, next time.
- She's still young though
- But I took her to Senegal.
- Malaria and stuff
My daughter, she's the love of my life,
she is everything to me,
and it's the best thing I've ever done
in my whole life, is having my daughter.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Cindy, how many hours have you been
in hair and make-up your whole life?
[laughter]
I used to say if I had a--
like, a nickel for every
for every hour I was in hair and makeup,
and then I was like, "Oh wait, I do."
[laughing]
- A certain benchmark, things that
- Yes.
- you know, are always there.
- Yeah, it's funny.
Mine, mostly, weren't really in fashion.
- Right.
- Mine were fashion adjacent.
But you were, sort of, branding before
branding was kind of
- Yeah.
- a thing, right? In a way.
[Cindy] I didn't really know
to call it that, but yeah.
No, it wouldn't be called that yet,
no because, God
[Cindy] It was just like doing
your own stuff, and
- 'Cause I did my exercise video.
- Yeah, yeah.
I did a calendar.
I did a little make-up book, actually.
Um, yeah, so
But people always said about you,
didn't they?
Like Cindy's-- you know,
she's a businesswoman. She's got it.
Like, you know. And now it'd be like,
"Oh, she's a brand."
[Cindy] I don't normally refer to myself
in the third person,
but I'm a human being and my job is,
like, being Cindy Crawford.
I've let my career
reflect what I'm going through in my life.
It's like, I'm not trying to be 55,
doing the same things I was when I was 25.
Back then I did Sports Illustrated,
which was not
a good experience for me and
because I had an opinion [laughs]
and that was not well received.
So, then I was like, "You know what?
I'm going to do my own swimsuit calendar."
Like, that was, like,
my first foray into doing my own thing.
[applause, cheering]
And it was successful and I raised money
for my charity, and it was great.
So then that emboldened me
to do other things.
I'm like,
"Okay, I've done that, now what?"
[overlapping chatter]
When I was 35
and my Revlon contract was up,
it was kind of like,
"If I'm going to do my own thing,
this feels like the right time."
And I did not go forward
with re-signing with Revlon.
I decided to do my own skincare line,
and Meaningful Beauty was born.
Instead of taking money up front,
which is kind of what models do,
it was like, I'm a partner,
a full partner,
I have equity, I'm building a business.
I sit on the board.
And then I also was asked
to do a furniture line
because, you know, style is style,
including how you live.
So, I started Cindy Crawford Home
15 years ago,
and I really like it because
it's not so dependent on me
not having a wrinkle or not getting old.
It's just about me creating a sanctuary
in my home for myself and my family.
And that's kind of timeless.
I always knew I wanted a family,
so I feel very blessed that
Rande and I
have been married 23 years.
And have very similar ideas
about parenting and how to live our life.
Our kids, when they were little,
it was really hard to explain
to them, like,
what Mommy's work is, like,
"What is a model?"
And "Why are those people
taking your picture?"
"What is fame?"
I just remember coming home
when they were little,
and especially my son would be like
[sharp inhale] "Wash your face."
They wanted, you know, Cindy.
And no make-up [chuckles]
hair pulled back and, um,
you know, sitting on the floor
playing Play-Doh or cooking dinner,
whatever their version of Mom
they needed in that moment was.
Obviously, kids become
your main focus of life,
and then you work in the other things
you are passionate about or want to do.
Ever since I started my career and was
able to actually help raise awareness,
help raise money, meeting with families,
meeting with patients,
doing whatever I can.
The type of leukemia that my brother was
diagnosed with was a death sentence.
And it's not anymore and these kids
are going on to have their own children.
My children,
now that they're getting older
It's been interesting
having Kaia and Presley both, kind of,
dip their toes into the fashion world.
I can help guide them right now
and give them a little exposure
to see if they really like it
or they just think they like it.
[Jacobs] I met Kaia Cindy brought her
to the-- to the studio we were shooting at
and Cindy said, like,
"Okay, I'm gonna leave Kaia,
I'm not gonna be a stage mother
and try to--"
But, you know, you could see
she was proud and excited for Kaia.
And Kaia was the ultimate professional.
[Kaia] There wasn't much
going through my mind.
I think once the music starts
and they're like, "Go!"
you kind of just lose everything
and it's like an instinct.
[woman] And I heard you were proud,
watching on.
Oh, yeah, it was incredible.
She came to my first show,
so I had to come to hers.
It was so fun.
[Cindy] When Kaia started modeling,
people would say,
"You're gonna let her model?" I'm like,
"If you have a daughter
over the age of eight, she is modeling,"
because modeling
is now accessible to anyone.
Social media was the great equalizer.
Everybody can do it.
Everybody can show whatever they want.
And it's changed the balance
of the hierarchy.
Back then, you needed,
sort of, the photographers,
the editors, the designers.
To be a model now,
they are their own brands.
They get booked directly
through Instagram.
That didn't exist before.
So the supermodel now has to have
a big social media presence
to be able to reach the heights
of what the girls did back in the day.
I realized things were changing
when clients are asking your agent,
"Well, how many Instagram followers
does she have?"
Before, like, the magazines
could kind of dictate,
"This is what is fashion."
But when social media happened,
there's such an explosion
of images that we see.
A lot of them are very different than
we were used to seeing in magazines.
[Robin Givhan] Right now,
there's greater diversity
in a lot of different categories.
They can speak up and be heard
and their voices
can really be amplified in a way
that wasn't available
to previous generations.
The question is, will it endure?
[Cindy] Maybe the idea
of what a model is
and represents now has picked up steam,
and maybe that's a great thing.
You can find
You can find anything, you know,
and there's all these different ideas
of beauty now.
And all of a sudden,
that is creating its own stars,
its own momentum,
its own energy and its own ideas.
There's some feeling that maybe
we helped the train leave the station.
And, I mean, now I'm just
Kaia's mom, by the way.
You know, my Instagram
should probably just be "Kaia's mom,"
and I'd probably have more followers.
- [blow dryer whirring]
- [people chattering]
I can't believe we're all, like,
from small towns all over the world
and then we're like,
"Wait, we're all here,"
- today shooting this thing, you know.
- Exactly.
With Steven.
I just I know we're gonna get it.
Like, there's no question
when you're with Steven,
you're gonna get the shot. That's it.
Steven Meisel today, he's very private.
But I feel like for insurance purposes,
for what we're looking for in this group,
we'll all feel well looked-after,
and, like, the image will be something
that will endure.
He has, sort of, the most consistent,
holistic, beautiful
And it's, like,
it could be fast and simple.
it doesn't have to be
We used to always call it giving birth.
Um, it doesn't have to be giving birth.
I think the story, the direction,
the angle and the trust, really.
The image, if you look back
over the time of any of our careers,
the ones that still hold up
are those ones.
All the stars kind of aligned.
[Linda] They were all a character.
'Cause it certainly wasn't me.
That's why I love the fashion world
so much.
It's, like, a way of getting to be
who you want to be.
I wanted to be a model,
but becoming a mom,
that's the most fulfilling thing
that has ever happened to me.
My son
He's fun
he's easy
kind
We're a small family,
it's just me and him.
He's been my rock.
He's been so supportive.
[Kim Jones] I didn't really know Linda.
But, you know, I'd loved her as a fan,
and and I wrote her a letter 'cause
I'd seen the People magazine article
and I just saw her
and she looked beautiful.
And I thought, you know,
why don't I ask and see if she wants to do
a show for Fendi in New York.
So, it's a straight walk and then--
And we'll do it now.
Yeah, so what we'll do is,
we'll look towards you,
start clapping
and then you come towards us.
- [Linda] What-- Why are you clap--?
- Because it's you.
- Not for me, no!
- Don't be silly.
- I'm here for you!
- We're celebrating you as well.
- [technician] Then pull it a bit longer.
- We're here for you as well.
- [Linda] I'm here to support you.
- And you.
[Jones] We really wanted to celebrate her.
And it was, like, a real, sort of
safe space for her to be in,
and like, you know, her family, almost.
- [indistinct chatter]
- I want a hug too!
[faint up-tempo music playing]
I haven't been in this situation in years.
Uh, I I feel like that.
You know, and this is a celebration.
So, let's do it.
[Linda] After all these years
I just didn't want to hide anymore.
I didn't
[voice shaking]
I wanted to start living again.
So when I get in the middle of you,
can you step forward?
[man speaking, indistinct]
Okay.
No one ever held my age
against me, ever.
And I think our generation of models
made people's perceptions
of what beauty is
change.
Beauty doesn't have to have an ending
or a expiry date.
They used to say beauty
is not sustainable.
It's, like, youth is not sustainable.
Beauty is. There's a difference.
[applause, cheering]
[Jones] Watching her on a runway
and just how she owns it and controls it
and knows how to play with an audience,
it's almost like an actor.
And I think that's the kind of thing
that's really fascinating to watch.
- [animated chatter]
- [woman hums fanfare]
[people cheering, whistling]
[Jones] Backstage after the show,
when Linda came out
- Feel the bag. Feel it.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
all the girls just freaked out,
all the new--
You know, new generation of models
was like, "Oh, my God. That's Linda."
You looked gorgeous.
[Jones] They were, like, just, like,
all in shock.
And that was just really sweet because,
you know, that's their idol.
And the one thing with supermodels
is they still appeal to young people
because they, you know, that's what
those girls want to-- wanted to be.
- [people calling out]
- [cameras clicking]
[Linda] Oh
[excited chatter]
- [man] Hey!
- [Linda] Hey!
[all chattering]
- [Cindy] How are you?
- [Linda] I'm here. [laughs]
- I know, I'm proud of you.
- [Linda] It's gonna be fun.
- [Cindy] I know!
- [Linda] This sounds like a reunion.
[Cindy] I know.
I don't like that we're all split up.
[Christy] You wanted to separate?
I was like, "Who asked for this?"
[laughs]
- Hi.
- Hi.
- [Guido] Hi.
- [Christy] Which one are you?
- [Linda] I don't know.
- [woman] You're next door. Next door.
Oh, okay. You're right.
We can open our curtain.
- [Linda] Oh, nice. Oh, okay.
- [Christy] Okay.
[Linda] Okay, I'll see you in a minute.
- [Naomi] Good to see you.
- [Linda] How are you?
- [Naomi] Good, thank you.
- [Linda] Nice to see you.
- You too.
- See you in a bit.
So hair's done.
[man laughing]
The hair's done. Okay.
I would love to take my hat off but
I'm not gonna take my hat off until
[woman] Do you want me
to grab Sandy and Guido?
No. Well, yeah, actually,
they should go first.
- Sure. Yeah.
- [Guido] Hi.
So, I always massage Linda first,
she demands it.
Yeah. [laughs]
Who's your easiest client?
- You.
- Of course.
- Of course.
- Don't believe a word you've heard, right?
- Don't believe anything.
- [laughing]
[stylist] Me or her? Okay.
[Christy] It feels, like, consistent
with some of the things I sent.
- [stylist] Right.
- But also
- today, modern, but--
- Elevated. Yeah. Yeah.
- [Christy] Yeah. I like it.
- It almost feels real.
- And not retro, it's
- I know from him, he wanted it to feel
- Ourselves.
- Yeah.
And he's like, "It's not a fashion shoot."
Meanwhile, we have
a bunch of fashion stuff.
- Yeah.
- But, this is
- Yeah.
- elevated. You know, it's not jeans
- but it feels
- No, especially if it's next to others
- Exactly, yeah. Yeah.
- who might have more going on.
- Levels.
- Yeah.
Okay, I think we're done here.
[Cindy] I like the double look, don't you?
- More moda.
- Yeah.
You guys always make it sound so chic.
[laughs]
I'm like, "I like the bigger one."
[stylist laughs]
- [woman] I love it.
- Yeah.
That's cool.
[Linda] Those Manolo are the ones
he made for me a long time ago.
[stylist] Perfect shape, too.
[Linda] They used to
be called Evangelista
and now they're just called
Now they're called Gelista.
- Or now, yeah, they have the bow and
- Little bow on the front, yes.
[Linda] That's from the early '90s.
It's still good. It's timeless.
[Christy] Yeah. 'Cause, I mean,
we're never really together like that.
[stylist] I know. When was the last time,
do you guys know?
That-- With Steven, and a group,
not in years, honestly.
[man] Last looks, last checks.
[Christy, whispers] Let's go. [chuckles]
[Cindy] Let's do one check in the mirror.
[Christy] How are we doing?
I think I need less hairspray. [laughs]
Oh, too late!
[Linda] I don't believe we got
the four of us together.
- That's been a while.
- [Naomi] I can't believe
- [Christy] I still can't remember.
- [Cindy] Vanity Fair, I was thinking.
- [Christy] Vanity Fair. You're right.
- [Cindy] Okay, yes.
And it wasn't just the four of us.
- [Christy] With Stephanie and Claudia.
- [Cindy] And Claudia.
[Linda] Claudia was there,
yeah, Stephanie.
- They were our generation.
- [Cindy] They were our generation.
[Christy] I mean, I think everything
about us here today
is, sort of, the opposite
of what I imagined
when I first came into the industry.
Like, I thought it was, like,
gonna be a minute
and life would go on.
And life has gone on.
But it's been
[echoing laughter]
decades.
[Todd Oldham]
Magic happens when the stars align.
When an exquisite model shows up
with the right designer
and the right photographer
in the right light and the right make-up.
You can do these
transcendent things that
[camera shutter clicks]
last forever.
They were refining, you know,
images to become very iconic.
[shutter click]
I-I'm just flattered.
I'm glad I reached that level.
[Goodman] They brought their artistry
[shutter clicks]
to the image.
It's really phenomenal.
[Jeanne Beker] You can't say every model
in the fashion business
[shutter clicks]
is an artist.
But some really are.
[shutter clicks]
Models still are glamorous
because that's what we do.
Um, and that's what people
They want to look at it
and they want to see it.
[Emily Bierman] The photographs
had such a huge impact
in the larger landscape of art
because they're
endlessly intriguing to look at.
They're like when you
look at Renaissance paintings.
The Mona Lisa was the face of her era.
[Bierman] Today, there's a strong market
for fashion photography.
At auction, you might see prices
that are a couple thousand dollars
to a million dollars or more because
they're icons of a generation.
Those girls defined power for women.
It was women supporting each other.
And people listened to them.
They were the first influencers
of fashion.
[Jacobs] Cindy, Linda, Christy, Naomi.
They're larger-than-life.
They're names that everybody knows.
People who've never bought a designer
dress know who those women are.
[Galliano] Those girls took it to a level
of professionalism and perfection.
They're super in more ways
than they're real.
[Suzy Menkes] I think the fact
the super models are still around
proves that they really
never went out of fashion.
[Enninful] Cindy, Linda, Christy and Naomi
are still redefining what it means
to be a model.
- [Christy] I'm so happy to see you.
- [man] Let's start it with Christy.
- [Naomi] So, that's a good thing, I guess.
- [Linda] I know.
[Cindy laughs]
[Naomi] Can we go, like, straight?
[Cindy] We want to go, like,
just more like
["Freedom! '90" by George Michael playing]
[Linda] Oh, oh. Okay, get us in the mood!
Get us in the mood.
[woman] Ready to go?
- [Linda] Ready!
- Okay.
[Christy] There's been lots of phases,
and we've all gone through
so many things in our own lives,
personally, and professionally.
[younger Christy]
I don't think I've changed that much.
The same people that I started
to hang around with when I first started
are the same people that I'm with now.
[Naomi] I think when
you come together with people
that have been part of your journey
and you consider them chosen family,
- I think that's emotional.
- [phone camera clicks]
Just take it day by day
and what comes, comes.
And all the big girls are the nicest ones.
[Linda] I feel blessed
that we're here today.
There's something about
that shared history that we have.
We can never have it with anybody else.
[all singing]
♪and make them true somehow ♪
All we have to see [laughing]
Is that I don't belong to you ♪
And you don't belong to me ♪
Yeah, yeah ♪
["Freedom! '90" continues]