According to Variety, Cindy Crawford – one of the original supermodels – is in the early stages of developing a TV drama about modelling. The show, which has been tentatively titled Icon, is set in 80s New York. While it isn’t based on Crawford’s own experiences in the modelling industry it focuses on the real-life wars between two rival agencies, (then-called) Ford Modeling Agency and Elite Model Management.
The show is being written by Robin Bissell, who executive produced The Hunger Games. And though its characters are entirely fictitious, the story is based on fact. In the 80s, a feud ignited between Elaine Ford (who sadly passed away last year) and her agency and Johnny Casablancas and his rival company, Elite.
“Eileen Ford's game is crystal-clear,” Casablancas told People magazine in 1980. “She wants my skin. There's so much ego and convincing in this business – anyone will do anything. But I am a warrior. I will fight. I will never sleep with both eyes closed as long as that woman is around.” “I haven't got time for it,” was Ford’s curt response. “Shakespeare had a phrase for all this – ‘Much ado about nothing.’”
Crawford herself was discovered by and signed with Elite. She, along with Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell, became one of the preeminent models of her era. But this isn’t the model’s first foray into TV: she was the original host of the now-iconic MTV show House of Style.
Watch an episode of House of Style from 1992 below:
