It’s hard to remember a time before Cindy Kimberly was the ‘it’ girl, but in 2015 the Spain native was a regular teenager, babysitting on the weekends with aspirations to become a fine artist. Then, a selfie changed everything.
If you’re unfamiliar with Cindy’s origin story, it reads like a digital fairytale. While Instagram was still in its infancy, Justin Bieber posted a selfie of a then-unknown Cindy to his feed with the caption, “OMG who is this?!”. With those four words, the pop star sent fans scurrying to identify his mystery crush. Eventually, she would be revealed as ‘wolfiecindy,’ exchanging her babysitting job for a modeling contract and overnight fame.
Almost a decade later, everyone knows Cindy Kimberly. While Justin’s co-sign might have routed her path away from art, Cindy has carved a unique niche in the social media space as a hands-on creative. She continues to paint – her clear talent even securing her a UPS commercial – as well as style and art directing her shoots. The model is particularly known for her elaborate hair and makeup looks, inspiring girls around the world. More recently, Cindy Kimberly has infiltrated the fashion world — offering her seven million followers the opportunity to outfit themselves in her designs.
Cindy Kimberly's Wildflower collaboration features a caricature of the model-designer. The tiny, cartoon version of Cindy is entirely her own creation, drawn by hand along with a cherry stem.
"I've been drawing my entire life," she tells Wildflower. "One of my earliest memories is drawing little doodles of Cinderella. But these characters I started making four or five years ago. They're all inspired by my childhood...They're inspired by the female experience and girlhood.
See Cindy on set with Wildflower below, and learn more about the multi-hyphenate muse.