Cindy Crawford at Peak ’90s Supermodel Fame | 14 Minutes with Regis, 1997

Aired March 19, 1997 on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Kathie Lee Gifford is away, and Cindy Crawford takes the co-host chair beside Regis Philbin for 14 uninterrupted minutes that feel almost absurdly 1997. At 31, Crawford jokes that she is already “ancient” by modeling standards, even as she remains one of the most famous, photographed and unmistakably beautiful women of the decade. She had just returned from Paris, where she appeared alongside Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell and walked for John Galliano at Christian Dior, while also interviewing Galliano for MTV. Galliano’s first Dior ready-to-wear collection had been presented in Paris just eight days earlier. From there, the conversation goes everywhere. Crawford talks about younger models telling her they had admired her for ten years, the strange experience of aging in an industry obsessed with youth, cellulite, retouching photographs, Revlon shoots, fitness, piano lessons, and knowing every tiny imperfection in your own face and body after years in front of cameras. Regis, meanwhile, repeatedly reminds everyone that his guest co-host is gorgeous. The two had known each other for years and had once worked out at the same New York gym, which gives the conversation an unusually comfortable, teasing rhythm. Crawford jokes with Regis about their history, lets him inspect her hands while discussing her “best feature,” and tells him she intends to practice flirting with him before appearing on David Letterman later that evening. That Letterman appearance really did air on March 19, 1997, with Crawford booked alongside Robert Townsend and Chris Whitley. She also discusses an earlier uncomfortable Letterman appearance, saying he later sent her flowers, and Regis offers his own strategy: make Letterman uncomfortable before he can make her uncomfortable. Elsewhere, Regis recounts seeing pianist David Helfgott, whose life inspired Shine; Crawford reveals she has recently started taking piano lessons; the Australian Tap Dogs warm up outside; and they bounce through headlines involving O.J. Simpson, the funeral of The Notorious B.I.G., and even that week’s suddenly ubiquitous purple-grape-juice heart study. But mostly, this is simply Cindy Crawford being Cindy Crawford at the height of the supermodel era, with Regis delighted to have landed the assignment. Fourteen minutes of beauty, fashion, celebrity, flirtation, daytime television and almost chemically pure 1990s pop culture. Topics: Cindy Crawford, Cindy Crawford 1997, Cindy Crawford interview, Cindy Crawford young, Cindy Crawford supermodel, 90s supermodels, 1990s fashion, Regis Philbin, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Cindy Crawford Regis, John Galliano, Christian Dior 1997, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Revlon, MTV, House of Style, David Letterman, Cindy Crawford Letterman, 90s beauty, supermodel era, vintage celebrity interviews, 1990s television, March 19 1997.