Cindy Crawford Doesn't Want to Be Called 'Ageless'

The 56-year-old supermodel shared her thoughts on aging in a new interview.

Don't call Cindy Crawford ageless.

The 56-year-old supermodel opened up about the pressure that comes with getting older in a society fixated on youth in a new interview with Haute Living.

Recalling informercials for the skin-care line she co-created in 2001, Meaningful Beauty, Crawford remembers the comments people made about her appearance and how they made her feel. "Even in my Meaningful Beauty infomercial, they used to say, 'She hasn’t aged' and they would show side-by-sides," she explained to the publication. "And I’d tell them to stop, because it puts too much pressure on me."

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Crawford is not unaware of the fact that she has indeed aged since her 20s. "I know all the ways that I’ve aged," she said. "My face has gotten much thinner; my mouth isn’t as full," she continued. "Being told I’m ageless isn’t right, especially because getting older is hard enough, never mind that we live in a youth-obsessed culture."

While some might want to turn back the clock, Crawford seems to appreciate where she is today. "I’m not 25, so why should I be trying to look 25?" she said. "Why do I want someone to mistake me for a 25-year-old? I’ve had children. I have all this life experience.”

The supermodel is also happy to have had the opportunity to work in the modeling industry well past her 20s — something she didn't know would be possible. "When I started modeling, I said, 'What am I going to do after I turn 25?'" she told Haute Living. "There wasn’t someone who had a career like me before that I could follow or look up to."

Crawford, of course, would go on to model throughout her life, and is still walking the runways of fashion shows, sometimes even alongside her daughter, 21-year-old Kaia Gerber.

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"There was no way I thought I would still be quote unquote 'modeling' to this day," she admitted. Her work has changed over the years, though. "I’m not 56 trying to do the same jobs that I did when I was 25 and 30. I’ve evolved, and the businesses that I have have evolved too," said Crawford. "I think that’s why I’ve had such career longevity, and why my audience will follow me — because it feels authentic and it is authentic.”

Crawford also likens herself to an "aging athlete," she explained in the recent interview. "I know the game so much better, but I don’t have a 20-year-old neck or whatever," she said. "Sometimes I think, 'Screw it. Maybe I don’t want to model anymore.' But then I think, 'Gosh, then I’m just further telling women that at a certain age, we’re just expired, and we should go on the shelf. Do I want to play into that for women?' And so I don’t," said the model and entrepreneur.

And no, Crawford has no intentions of following outdated ideas about how women her age should look or behave. "I'm probably at an age where I should be wearing one-pieces, but I've never worn one-pieces, and it's [the same kind of dilemma I have with my hair]," she said. "I’ve always had long hair; I wouldn’t feel like me with short hair."

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"Even though sometimes I don’t necessarily feel as confident, or if I see a pictures of me and there are things I don’t like, I still think yeah, but that’s real," said Crawford. "Aging is what happens if we’re lucky; it means that I’m alive."

Here's to remaining true to yourself at every stage of life! (Up next: Paulina Porizkova On Aging, Instagram, and Cosmetic Procedures)