Cindy Crawford criticises ‘unhealthy’ size zero models

Cindy Crawford, the former supermodel, has criticised the trend for waif-like clothes horses, saying she would have looked too “normal” to succeed in the fashion industry today.

Cindy Crawford said changing perceptions in the industry would have stopped her being a supermodel in 2009 Photo: GETTY

Miss Crawford, 43, who was one of the best paid models of the 1980s and 1990s, said: “I would not have become a supermodel in 2009. I look too healthy.”

A body like her own “with big breasts, normal thighs and toned upper arms” is no longer what the industry is looking for, she said.

Earlier this month, Germany’s most popular women’s magazine stopped using professional models completely, saying it was fed up with having to digitally erase their protruding bones.

However, Karl Lagerfeld, the fashion designer, has accused critics of thin models of being “fat mummies who sit with bags of potato chips”.

Ralph Lauren has twice recently been found to have altered photographs of models to make their waists smaller. In once case, the model’s waist ended up smaller than her head.

Miss Crawford said changing perceptions in the industry would have stopped her making it.

She told Bunte, the German magazine, that she was happy with her physique.

“That’s why I like being in my 40s so much,” she said. “Being at peace with yourself, knowing about your strengths beyond being pretty.”