Pink organza gown by Vintage Max Choul ($3,800). Visit decadesinc.com. Jackie bracelet by Van Cleef & Arpels ($20,100). Van Cleef & Arpels, 636 North Michigan Avenue, 312-944-8988. Panthère de Cartier brooch by Cartier (price on request). Cartier, 630 North Michigan Avenue, 312-266-7440. Folies lace-up sandals by Yves Saint Laurent ($895). Yves Saint Laurent, 51 East Oak Street, 312-751-8995. Vintage top hat, stylist’s own.

Cindy Crawford is getting a pedicure. A technician is desperately trying to save a toenail—it was badly mangled during a four-hour hike last April—but Crawford doesn’t seem to mind. She is, after all, the supermodel who made her name by being just one degree from perfect, thanks to that perfectly placed mole.

“Next week I’m going to the beach on vacation,” she says casually, almost as an afterthought. And then, a week later, paparazzi photos surface that show her sunning in the South of France on George Clooney’s boat. Looking at the photos, you can’t take your eyes off her figure—because even though she keeps reminding you that she’s 42, two decades and two children after she started strutting down catwalks, she still looks incredible in a bikini.

It’s this dichotomy between glamour and guilelessness that marks Crawford’s appeal. Case in point: With more than 1,000 magazine covers under her belt, she still asks, sweetly, if we think the photos from this shoot turned out well. (You be the judge.)

It’s also telling that fashion doesn’t dominate her life. More often, these days, it’s her life that dominates fashion. She’s the face, and the inspiration, behind the Cindy Crawford Home collection, a furniture line modeled after the furnishings in her cozy Malibu home, which she shares with her husband of 10 years, Rande Gerber, and their children, Presley, 9, and Kaia, 7.

We asked Crawford about her Midwest roots (she still keeps a home in DeKalb), her daily rituals, and the secrets to her happy relationship.

LEFT: Leighton gown by Ralph Lauren Collection ($2,498). Available through special order from Ralph Lauren, 750 North Michigan Avenue, 312-280-1655. Feather headpiece by Philip Treacy for Ralph Lauren (made to order). Ralph Lauren, SEE ABOVE. Victorian necklace by Platt Boutique ($18,000). Available at F Platt & Sons, 5 South Wabash Avenue, No. 218, 312-726-0771. Chiodo cocktail bracelet by Gucci ($3,850). Gucci, 900 North Michigan Avenue, 312-664-5504. RIGHT: Fringe vintage dress by Azzaro (price on request). Visit coquettecouture.com. T-strap sandals by Yves Saint Laurent ($1,095). Yves Saint Laurent, 51 East Oak Street, 312-751-8995. Cocktail ring by Graff (price on request). Graff, 103 East Oak Street, 312-604-1000. Panthère de Cartier bracelet by Cartier ($35,300). Cartier, 630 North Michigan Avenue, 312-266-7440. Link bracelet ($19,800) and hoop earrings (price on request), both by Martin Katz. Visitmartinkatz.com. Classica cuff bracelet by Buccellati ($18,000). Call 310-276-7022.

MICHIGAN AVENUE: We have to ask: What do you think of our namesake street, Michigan Avenue?
CINDY CRAWFORD: I just love the expanse of it and how it pops up at the end near Oak Street and Lake Shore Drive. I love it in the winter, too, when we’re trudging around and crossing the street with big snowbanks. Here’s what I always say about Chicago: It’s a small town with a lot of people. When you walk down the street, people look you in the eye.

MA: You’re from DeKalb, which is 65 miles west of Chicago. Rumor has it that you were discovered as a teenager, detasseling corn.
CC: No, that’s not true. I used to work in the cornfields like every kid in DeKalb did. But there was a local photographer who did everything— whether it was a house that burned down or the homecoming parade. He photographed me for the college newspaper, and he was the one who said, “You should think about modeling.” When I first came to visit modeling agencies, my parents drove me into Chicago. I was 16, and my father thought modeling was a nice name for a different profession. It was a whole world they knew nothing about.

	Caden dress by Ralph Lauren Black Label ($3,998). Available through special order from Ralph Lauren, 750 North Michigan Avenue, 312-280-1655. Panthère de Cartier necklace by Cartier ($39,900). Cartier, 630 North Michigan Avenue, 312-266-7440. Garnet bracelet ($8,800), white-gold bracelet ($22,000), branch comb (price on request), and cocktail ring ($8,900), all by Neil Lane. Available through special order from Saks Fifth Avenue, 700 North Michigan Avenue, 312-944-6500. Diamond and amethyst ring by Platt Boutique ($6,500). Available at F Platt & Sons, 5 South Wabash Avenue, No. 218, 312-726-0771. Round stud earrings by Graff (price on request). Graff, 103 East Oak Street, 312-604-1000. Vintage headpiece, stylist’s own.

MA: And then you were photographed by Victor Skrebneski.
CC: He’s the photography king in Chicago, and the only one who was important on a national level. I got an apartment on LaSalle near his studio so that I could walk to work.

MA: You attended Northwestern University for a quarter as a chemical engineering major before you dropped out to pursue modeling. Those of us who went to Northwestern in the nineties were all proud that you’d gone there, too—it was like you single-handedly made smart girls seem cool.
CC: I’m sure there were other smart models before me! Models are people, too. I know smart ones, shy ones, brazen ones...

MA: So if you hadn’t become a model, would you be working as a chemical engineer right now? I’m picturing you in a white lab coat.
CC: I probably would have wound up being a teacher like my sisters.

MA: You were one of the original supermodels—how have you avoided the drama some of the others have faced?
CC: I would always ask myself, “What would my mom say about this?” I never saw modeling as a lifestyle; it was just my job. At fashion shows, I would be the one in a corner reading a book until it was time for hair and makeup. I was on The View recently and they asked me if I have any regrets. I said that I regretted that I wasn’t more wild. What you can do at 22 you can’t do at 42, because now it just looks silly. I was half joking because I’m glad I wasn’t able to get too messed up. I think it’s because of the way I was raised. But then again, I’m sure there are people from the Midwest who are crazy, too.

MA: You hosted MTV’s House of Style for six years. Do you think it influenced the current crop of reality shows?
CC: I was ahead of my time, right? The thing I loved was that we tried to make it accessible. We’d show Naomi Campbell on the runway and also putting on pimple cream at night. We tried to demystify it because we never wanted to make girls feel bad about themselves.

MA: Your kids are beautiful. Would you ever want them to act or model?
CC: They’ve come with me on photo shoots, but my son hates to be photographed. Someone wanted him to read for a movie and my husband and I were like, “What good could possibly come of it?” A set is not a great place for a kid. But if Kaia wants to model when she’s 16 or 17, I can steer her in the right direction.

MA: We're dying to know: How do you still look so amazing?
CC: It’s all smoke and mirrors. I do all the right things, but I’m still 42. I exercise and eat pretty well, and I’m not a big drinker. And I think being happy has helped, too.

MA: Do you work out?
CC: I try to work out three or four times a week. Today I did 20 minutes on a treadmill and a half hour of weights. But I won’t work out tomorrow. I also try to squeeze in a hike every weekend with one of my girlfriends.

Silk charmeuse dress by Yves Saint Laurent ($6,400). Yves Saint Laurent, 51 East Oak Street, 312-751-8995. Drop earrings by Chopard ($40,810). Visit chopard.com. Stone bracelet ($12,000), quartz stone ring ($2,250), and cocktail ring ($12,000), all by Neil Lane. Available through special order from Saks Fifth Avenue, 700 North Michigan Avenue, 312-944-6500. Vintage headpiece, stylist’s own.

MA: There are so many fad diets. Have you tried any of them?
CC: No, because you’re either on it or you’re off it and it doesn’t work. Someone told me once that you should be 80 percent good, 80 percent of the time. I was like, “I can do that.” Right now I’m really into having a smoothie for breakfast. It really holds me over if I put flaxseed into it. I also want my kids to see their mom eating normally. If we go out for ice cream, I might get the tiny size, but I’ll eat it. I don’t want my daughter to think she can’t eat ice cream.

MA: Let’s talk about your furniture collection that is launching at The RoomPlace. For someone who has made a living in high fashion, you’ve always chosen to develop product lines that are affordable.
CC: I remember my mother was visiting once and I had just bought this cotton Donna Karan dress that she borrowed. She wanted to go buy one and I was embarrassed to say it was $500. No one in DeKalb spends that much. And I wondered, “Why shouldn’t inexpensive clothes be cut well, too?” That’s kind of my philosophy about products I endorse. I always liked the fact that Revlon wasn’t superexclusive. And Pepsi, too, they’re all-American brands that are aspirational but also very achievable.

MA: What made you decide to go into home furnishings?
CC: A retail chain came to me because they had seen my house in Elle Décor magazine. I was flattered but I was like, “I’m a model.” I love decorating my own places but it wasn’t something I had thought of doing. But I know that style is style; if you have it in one area it also translates into how you live and entertain. They gave me faith that people would be interested in what I have to say.

MA: Judging by the bars he owns [including Chicago’s Whiskey Blue, Whiskey Sky, and Mexx Kitchen], your husband seems to have a very strong sense of style, too.
CC: The house that we live in now in Malibu is the first house we did together. It was a tough process for us because we both have pretty strong aesthetics. I’m slightly more traditional and he likes a more contemporary look. We ask each other’s opinions. We don’t always agree, but Rande has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on and I like hearing what he has to say.

MA: Where else do you own homes?
CC: We’re building a contemporary house in Cabo [San Lucas] right now. I also have a little house in DeKalb down the street from my mother, and we stay there a couple of weeks a year. We bought it seven years ago, because as my sisters and I started having kids it started getting too crowded in my mom’s house. Usually we visit around the Fourth of July; that’s our family tradition.

MA: You’ve been married for 10 years—any advice you can share?
CC: I’m very attracted to Rande, but above all, we’re friends. Having your relationship based on friendship was a little bit new to me. We’re never disrespectful to each other.

MA: And it probably helps that he’s gorgeous.
CC: Yeah, he’s not bad.