An unretouched photo of Cindy Crawford from a three-year-old photo shoot is doing the rounds on the internet and has been described as a ground-breaker, when it's really nothing more than false advertising.
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In the image, the soon-to-be 49-year-old supermodel is posing in her underwear wearing a black feather jacket and fedora. Her stomach and thighs appear natural and have subtle lumps and bumps, like every other woman who has given birth to children and spends a lot of time in the sun, like Crawford does.
Twitter was claiming over the weekend the image was from a feature set to appear in the upcoming April issue of Marie Claire in the US.
It's not.
The magazine was quick to correct the social media scuttlebutt.
"Its origins are actually from a December 2013 cover story from Marie Claire Mexico and Latin America. It appears that this unretouched version is a leak," a story explained.
"No matter where the photo came from, it's an enlightenment – we've always known Crawford was beautiful, but seeing her like this only makes us love her more."
While the image was earning the magazine and model praise for shunning Photoshop, the photo, shot by renowned celebrity and fashion photographer John Russo, actually never appeared anywhere in 2013, not on the cover nor within the pages of Marie Claire Mexico.
The seven page fashion spread consisted of various portraits of Crawford evoking the spirit of iconic Mexican actor Maria Felix wearing a houndstooth headscarf, a variety of large hats and even larger jewels. The only bit of flesh on display was her decolletage, which looks suspiciously smooth and supple.
Following the alleged leak, Crawford's husband, Randy Gerber, posted a photo of the model reclining in a bikini.
"She got flowers and I got her. Happy Valentines [sic] Day," he wrote.
Even though Marie Claire has now made sure the image is now a moot point, prior to it surfacing Crawford opened about her shaky body confidence to the magazine.
"I was never one of the 'skinny' skinny girls who could eat whatever they wanted, so I certainly exercise and try to eat right. But at the same time, I try to be a good role model for my daughter in terms of just accepting myself, not saying 'Does this make me look fat?' or 'I can't eat that' or 'I'm on a diet.'," she told Marie Claire US.
"I just trying to lead by example. If we go out for ice cream I'm not going to not have any, I'm just going to have the baby-size cone. I don't want her to think that taking care of yourself means depriving yourself and not having fun."
Her 13-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, is now following in her mother's footsteps. She kick-started her modelling career when she was 10 with the 2012 Young Versace campaign. Kaia was most recently featured in Teen Vogue after being discovered by editors and agents via her mother's Instagram account.
