Crystal Renn was born June 18th 1986 in Miami Florida. Who says you have to be skinny and anorexic looking to be a model? Crystal Renn proves that beauty comes in all sizes. She is an American model and an Author.
Crystal started her modeling career in high fashion at the age of 14 after being spotted by a professional scout in her hometown in Mississippi. Crystal was told she would need to lose almost a third of her total body weight if she wanted to become a model. This extreme weight loss eventually triggered a health crisis, causing her to reassess her diet and exercise habits. After gaining 70 pounds (32 kg) and re-emerging as a U.S. size 12, she was re-marketed by her agents as a plus size model. Crystal Renn has authored a book "Hungry" A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, about her experiences in the fashion industry in relation to her several body type transformations.
On June 30, 2007, Crystal married her longtime boyfriend Gregory Vrecenak at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, New York. Fashion portraits of her wedding were taken by photographer Brian Boulos. In mid 2009 the couple ended their marriage. Crystal currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to working repeatedly with notable fashion photographers Ruven Afanador and Steven Meisil and being the only plus-size model to appear on a Harper's Bazaar cover and appearing in four international Vogue editions. Crystal has enjoyed lucrative contracts with many high-profile plus-size clothing manufacturers such as Lane Bryant, Evans and Torrid and has also appeared on the runway for Vena Cava, Heatherette, Elena Miro and most notably for Jean Paul Gaultier in his Spring/Summer
prêt-à-
porter 2006 collection in Paris, garnering favorable and extensive media interest. Recently, she walked in the Chanel Resort 2011 runway show. She recently appeared in the F/W 2010 Jean Paul Gautier campaign and has appeared in campaigns for H&M, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. She has also appeared in editorials for American, Italian, French, German, and Teen Vogue, Italian Elle, Russian Harpers Bazaar, Glanmour, and Vanity Fair.
Crystal Renn is also notable for appearing in back-to-back campaigns in 2007 wearing regular-sized (not specifically plus-size) clothing for Spanish retailer Mango. Her photos appearing amid those of smaller models and without notation regarding her larger size, a rare occurrence in conventional apparel advertising.
Crystal's first book, Hungry
was co-authored by Marjorie Ingall and released on September 8, 2009.
During an on-camera interview at an Australian industry function
, Renn's agent Gary Dakin noted that her total income would now be "close to 7 figures". Renn is currently reporting for Glamour on New York Fashion Week 2010 on the fall collections.