Cindy Crawford Announces Retirement from Modeling, then takes it back: 'Never say never'

Cindy Crawford's retirement plans are coming up fashionably late.

 

Once the world's highest-paid model, Crawford told United Airline’s Rhapsody magazine that her days on the catwalk have officially gone to the dogs.

"I feel like I'm allowing that to have been great, and I'm celebrating it. And I'm sure I'll have my picture taken for 10 more years, but not as a model anymore. And that's OK," she revealed in its February cover issue.

But a day after the story broke that she was calling it quits, the supermodel took to her Instagram to clarify what "retirement" really means.

Every year, I tell my kids I'm retiring. It's a running joke in our family. And yet every year, opportunities pop up that really excite me. While it's true that I'm eager to shift my focus a bit to concentrate on my businesses, friends and family — I'm not making any final statements (not all headlines tell the whole story!). I have loved being part of the fashion industry for the past 30 years — and if that time has taught me anything, it's this: never say never. Thanks for all the support, I'm so excited for what 2016 holds! xo Cindy

"Every year, I tell my kids I'm retiring. It's a running joke in our family. And yet every year, opportunities pop up that really excite me," she wrote Monday . "While it's true that I'm eager to shift my focus a bit to concentrate on my businesses, friends and family — I'm not making any final statements."

She added that her 30-plus years working in the fashion industry has taught her to "never say never."

Crawford, who has two kids with restaurateur and George Clooney confidante Rande Gerber, passed the modeling bug to her daughter, Kaia, 14, who is also on her way to becoming a top model.

In September, Crawford released an autobiography, "Becoming" where she opened up about being bullied as a teen, notably for her trademark facial mole, which some classmates said looked like she had chocolate on her face.

Her career took off in the early '90s shortly after she was discovered by a model scout in Dekalb, Ill., at age 16. The brunette beauty was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 - 1995.

She has appeared on multiple fashion magazines covers, hosted a gig on MTV's "House of Style" and starred in the movie "Fair Game." By 1995, she was the world’s top-paid model, earning $6.5 million per year.