Crystal Renn's Weight Loss, Blonde Hair Make Former Plus-Size Model Unrecognizable [PHOTOS]

By Cavan Sieczkowski | April 12 2012 11:13 AM

Modeling requires a woman to become a human-chameleon, changing her looks for the sake of art and professional success. Crystal Renn has done just that, though the transformation has been attributed to her Gemini moment rather than job requirements. Sporting drastic weight loss and bleached blonde hair, Crystal Renn looks virtually unrecognizable.

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Crystal Renn turned heads when she appeared Tuesday evening at a charity event in NYC. The model, who was a curvacious brunette, is now thin with short blonde hair.
Sports Illustrated Australia

Crystal Renn - Sports Illustrated 2012
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Modeling requires a woman to become a human-chameleon, changing her looks for the sake of art and professional success. Crystal Renn has gone and done just that, though she attributes the transformation to her "Gemini moment" rather than to her job as a supermodel. Sporting drastic weight loss and bleached blonde hair, Crystal Renn looks virtually unrecognizable.

Crystal Renn flaunted her new look at the 9th Annual Spring Dinner Dance New Year's In April: A Fool's Fete at the Mandarian Oriental Hotel. The former plus-size model showed off a skinny frame in a form-fitting forest green evening gown complemented by white-blonde hair and eyebrows.

When this whole weight-loss thing happened, I think that a lot of people wanted to point their finger at somebody, Renn said in an interview posted on the Ford Models blog. They wanted to find a conspiracy where there absolutely was none.

As for her new hair and eyebrows, Renn opted for white-blonde to contrast her former raven locks.

It's so interesting because I think it's the last thing people would expect me to do-which is exactly why I did it. Besides, I was having a Gemini moment, the model told Fashionista. It means that you can get bored and you want a bit of a change. So I would say besides having projects in the works, that I wanted something new myself so I decided to keep it.

Crystal Renn is certainly no stranger to change. The supermodel first began losing weight about a year ago, and her weight has yo-yoed in the past.

I've been a double-zero, children's clothes, at 95 pounds, and I've been all the way up to a size 16 and everything in between, Renn told People magazine in February. Now I'm a 6, 8, sometimes a 10, depending on what designer I'm wearing. And that's an interesting place to be in fashion, where extremes are the norm.

The 5-foot 9-inch brunette stunner was just 95-pounds at 16-years-old. She battled with anorexia after she was told by modeling agents that she would need to lose a third of her body weight in order to ever be successful. She gained 70 pounds and reemerged as a hugely popular size-14 plus-size model, becoming an inspiration for women around the world who did not just define a beautiful woman as a waif-thin blonde.

Since publishing her book, Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition, and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, in 2009, Crystal Renn has spoken out against overly-skinny models and unattainable standards in the fashion industry.

Her career as a plus-size model thrived, with modeling gigs for Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Evans bringing in a salary in the high six-figures, according to Yahoo! Shine. Now, with her drastic weight loss, the 25-year-old is regarded as a former plus-size model.

Though Renn has slimmed down quite a lot, the model wears a designer size-10 and is considered larger than the average model in the fashion industry. Renn's continued and growing success points to a trend of curvy-is-in.

Crystal Renn landed herself in the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, which curvy supermodel Kate Upton covered. Though some took note of Renn's weight loss for the Swimsuit Issue, others were thrilled to see girls with real, womanly bodies in the iconic mag.

This was the model's first-ever appearance in the SI Swimsuit Edition and fans expressed their glee. Crystal Renn looks smokin' in Sports Illustrated, tweeted @Refinery29. We're huge Renn friends at TheGloss and she's particularly stunning as photographed by Walter Iooss Jr. in Australia, reads a blog post on TheGloss.

The SI Swimsuit Edition was the perfect way for Crystal Renn to debut her thinner figure. The magazine is known for embracing curvier models.

There's a woman at SI who's made it a point to make sure that the models are healthy. They're not interested in who's the thinnest model of them all, they're about the girl. We all have different bodies. There's not one type that's idealized, Renn told People.

I have found a place of stability when it comes to how to view my figure.

Crystal Renn's success as a former plus-size model, along with her ability to morph her look seamlessly and without criticism, has had a serious impact on modeling as a whole. But there is still room for improvement.

I'd love to see [the fashion industry] open their eyes to the variety of women. That variety is what's beautiful, Renn has said.