Gigi Hadid's Stunning Transformation
The term "supermodel" has been thrown around quite liberally in recent years. Initially referring to a few elite models who had become ubiquitous in pop culture, beyond the covers of fashion magazines, some industry insiders think it's become so overused that it's pretty much lost the weight that it once held when referring to the likes of Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and their peers.
That said, it's no stretch to state that Gigi Hadid has attained legit supermodel status within the decade or so since she first started making waves in the fashion scene. And while Hadid and her little sister, fellow model Bella Hadid, have both made their respective marks, Gigi has become a significant media darling. She's also been credited as the first social-media model, gaining more than 78 million followers on Instagram while dazzling the high-level world of haute couture.
When she's not appearing on the covers of magazines or walking runways for top designers, this single mom can be found spending time with her young daughter, Khai, whom she shares with her ex, Zayn Malik. Meanwhile, her love life continues to make headlines, particularly after rumors emerged in late 2023 that she was dating one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars.
Gigi Hadid was born into wealth and privilege
Born on April 23, 1995, Jelena Noura Hadid is the first child of real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid and model Yolanda Hadid, later known as Yolanda Foster after her marriage to music producer David Foster. As Insider detailed, Hadid's dad was a mogul when she was born, once worth an estimated $400 million.
Yet neither of Gigi Hadid's parents were born wealthy. Her father was just a teenager when he and his family fled Palestine as refugees, eventually immigrating to the U.S. An entrepreneur from a young age, he opened a nightclub on a Greek island and renovated classic cars before making millions in the high-flying world of luxury real estate. Hadid's mother also comes from modest beginnings. Born Yolanda van den Herik in the Netherlands, she began modeling when she was 16, arriving in the U.S. with just $55 her mother had given her. "I was very money-driven," she told Money.
"I come from privilege, and I recognize my privilege," Gigi told Elle. However, she insisted that her parents' posh lifestyle did not come without a lot of hard work, a lesson that was not lost on her. "My mom was a model. She moved to the States when she was 16 to send money back to her family in Holland. My dad was a refugee and worked his way up in every way," she said. "I work hard to honor my parents."
Gigi Hadid started modeling as a baby
Gigi Hadid's modeling career goes back nearly as far as she does. Hadid was a professional model before she learned how to tie her shoes. "I was discovered by Paul Marciano, of Guess, when I was actually, like, 2 years old," she told Vanity Fair of how she got her start in the biz. Guess co-founder Marciano, a friend of her parents, has known Hadid since she was born. "Her fresh look and charismatic personality just fit the mold for the Guess brand," he told Fashion Week Daily.
Even as a toddler, Hadid's star quality shone through. That's evident in her first campaign for Guess, which ran in 1999. As she grew, she graduated from Baby Guess to Guess Kids, and Marciano recalled that even as a youngster, Hadid was a pro. "Gigi was full of life, loved having fun, and always had a carefree attitude," he said. "Having her on set was always such a pleasure."
While those Guess photos remain a key part of her legacy, Hadid herself doesn't retain many memories of posing for them. "I don't really remember that much about it but I remember a tent where we'd play games in," she told Vogue. "Since we were so young, we were only allowed to shoot for a certain amount of time," she added, recalling how the family dog, Gucci, randomly wound up in the campaign when he accompanied her on a photoshoot.
Horseback riding and volleyball caused Gigi Hadid to pause her modeling career
Gigi Hadid's career as a child model came to an end as she became older and more focused on athletic pursuits. As Hadid told Vanity Fair, she developed an interest in competitive horseback riding and began participating in equestrian competitions. At the same time, Hadid demonstrated talent in volleyball, which also took up a lot of her time. "I went to Junior Olympic qualifiers for volleyball," she explained. "So, I kind of stopped modeling."
In 2018, Hadid took to Instagram to share a throwback video of herself on horseback, riding in an equestrian competition. "I believe this was my first show on Calypso's Trendy Lady, maybe my best-ever teammate," she wrote, noting that she and her beloved steed continued to compete together for the next few years. "I rode her til my last show at 18 — right before I started modeling full-time," she added.
As Hadid told Vanity Fair, another reason she decided to step away from modeling was her desire to enjoy a normal high-school experience, knowing that the modeling career she paused would always be there waiting when she was ready to jump back in. "And so then I got back into it until I signed with IMG," she explained. "My mom wouldn't let me sign with an agency until I was 17. So that's how I got back into it."
Gigi Hadid returned to modeling at 17
After graduating from high school, 17-year-old Gigi Hadid returned to modeling in 2011. "I signed with IMG in 2011 and that was my first agency and I knew it was what I wanted to do," she told Harper's Bazaar of why IMG was the best fit for her re-entry into the business as an adult. "I was about to graduate high school and I wanted to move to New York and build my career, so IMG was a great place for me to be able to do that.
After being signed, her first modeling job as an adult was, not surprisingly, with Guess. Hadid came full circle when she returned to the company when she'd made her debut with Baby Guess all those years earlier. "I will forever be grateful to Guess for everything it's done for my career as well as the relationships and experiences it has brought me that I will cherish for my whole life," she said of her experience with the company during an interview with photographer Kymberly Marciano.
At the time, Hadid's bosses at IMG envisioned big things for her future. "She walks into a crowded room and you can feel her presence. Everyone is like, 'Who is that?' I can't help myself when someone like her comes along," IMG's managing director Ivan Bart presciently told The Daily Front Row (via Stylecaster). "I have a very good feeling about this girl."
In college, Gigi Hadid studied criminology
If CBS ever wants to expand its "CSI" franchise with a show about a crime-solving supermodel investigating homicides, Gigi Hadid should be at the top of their casting sheet. While rebooting her modeling career after high school, Hadid attended the New School in New York City. While one might assume she'd major in fashion or design, she opted for an entirely different path: criminal psychology.
"I've always been interested in it," she told Vogue, explaining she initially had a goal of becoming a forensic scientist — until discovering how long that would take. "But to be a forensic scientist means you have to go to school for 8 years. I was like, 'Over that!'" she said. Ultimately, she came to understand that she was far more interested in the psychology behind crimes than the science utilized in solving them. "I realized what I enjoyed was trying to unravel [people's] brains, why people commit crimes when they get older."
During a 2015 appearance on "Live! with Kelly and Michael," Hadid revealed she was taking a break from college as her modeling career heated up. Nevertheless, she admitted that her studies had begun seeping into her personal life, transforming her into an amateur criminal profiler. That was particularly true when riding the subway. "I am literally profiling everyone," she said. "I'm sitting there like, 'That phone looks a little bit old to be an actual phone and I'm getting off at the next stop.'"
Gigi Hadid made waves during her 2014 New York Fashion Week debut
Gigi Hadid cemented her status as a model of the moment when she made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week in February. "It was crazy; I got to walk with my idol Candice Swanepoel," Hadid told The Cut." She was in front of me in the lineup. It was just unbelievable."
While Hadid had been posing for photographers since she was a kid, walking a runway was a whole other animal. That was particularly true during her first New York Fashion Week when designer Jeremy Scott not only hired her for his show but tapped her to open it. "I was so nervous I couldn't breathe," Hadid told Elle. "I was like, 'Really, you want me to open?' I'd never gone to a runway class." Hadid received criticism for her walk in fashion shows, and she understood why. "A lot of people judged that I was a bad runway walker because they were literally watching me learn," she explained.
Hadid also faced criticism for her toned physique, a holdover from horseback riding and volleyball. "At the time, I was still starting out in my career, I was coming out of high school, I still had my volleyball body," she recalled during an interview with i-D. "At the time, people were hard on me and tried to say that I didn't have a runway body."
2014 was a major year for Gigi Hadid
It's not hyperbole to say that 2014 was a pivotal year for Gigi Hadid. In addition to making her runway debut at New York Fashion Week, she also landed her first-ever magazine cover. As Page Six reported, she was personally selected by CR Fashion Book editor Carine Roitfeld to star in a fairytale-styled photoshoot for the magazine, with acclaimed fashion photographer Bruce Weber behind the camera.
She also made her debut appearance in the 2014 edition of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. Sharing a photo from the shoot — which took place on the Jersey Shore — on Instagram, Hadid implored her followers to give her the edge. "It would mean the absolute world to me if you would vote for me for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's 2014 Rookie of the Year!" she wrote in the caption. Hadid proved to be an SI superstar and went on to appear a total of three times, returning in 2015 and again in 2016.
Later that year, Hadid was tapped by designer Tom Ford to be at the center of a campaign for his Velvet Orchid fragrance. In the photo — which Hadid posted to Instagram — she's seen clutching a bottle of the perfume while fully nude. Not long after that, Ford once again utilized Hadid. This time, she appeared alongside Patrick Schwarzenegger — son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver — in a campaign for Tom Ford eyewear.
Gigi Hadid's career became larger than life in 2015
If 2014 was a big year for Gigi Hadid, 2015 was downright monumental, catapulting her from a hot new arrival to a bona-fide supermodel. The year kicked off with iconic makeup brand Maybelline announcing Hadid as its new face. That association would continue over the years, with Hadid launching her collection — Gigi Hadid x Maybelline — in 2017. Days later, Hadid became the Daily Front Row's Model of the Year, accepting the award at the inaugural Fashion Los Angeles Awards.
Meanwhile, 2015 also saw Hadid star in campaigns for Versace and H&M's collaboration with Balmain. That same year, she also appeared on the covers of five different international versions of Vogue, walked the runway for no less than 17 different fashion shows, made her debut in the famed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and also attended her first — but certainly not her last — Met Gala.
That was also the year that Hadid's stardom transcended mere modeling. Gigi Hadid proved that as one of the famous faces in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" music video, starring in the video for Calvin Harris' single "How Deep Is Your Love," and even directed "Cake By the Ocean," the debut single from then-boyfriend Joe Jonas' DNCE.
"I've done things in the past year that I never thought I'd do in five years," Hadid told Harper's Bazaar in 2015. "It's still surreal. I'm just trying to take it all in."
In 2016, Gigi Hadid went public with her health issues
In December 2016, Gigi Hadid made a big announcement about her health. "I have Hashimoto's disease," she divulged in an interview with Elle. "It's a thyroid disease, and it's now been two years since taking the medication for it ..." As she explained, the disease — an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies attack the thyroid gland — had played havoc with her metabolism. "My metabolism actually changed like crazy this year," she said.
She addressed her thyroid disease in 2018 when she took to X (the social media platform then known as Twitter) to clap back at body-shaming comments that were being made about her, criticizing her for becoming too thin. "For those of you so determined to come up [with] why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto's disease; those of u who called me 'too big for the industry' were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that," she wrote in a since-deleted tweet, reported by The Cut.
As she told interviewer Blake Lively for Harper's Bazaar, she'd come to accept the fluctuations in her body brought about by Hashimoto's thyroiditis. "If I could choose, I would have my ass back and I would have the [breasts] I had a few years ago," she said. "But, honestly, we can't look back with regret — I loved my body then, and I love my body now."
Gigi Hadid designed her own footwear collection
In late 2016, Gigi Hadid demonstrated yet another side of her talents when she veered into a whole new sideline as a footwear designer. As Elle reported, Hadid partnered with shoe designer Stuart Weitzman to introduce her fashionable new creation: The Gigi Boot, a sleek, high-heeled boot that was offered in three different finishes, silver, metallic bronze, and faux crocodile leather.
The collaboration proved to be successful enough that Hadid teamed up with Stuart Weitzman for a second launch. This time, Hadid shifted from boots to flats with her Eyelovemore mules, so named for the distinctive "evil eye" talisman adorning the top of each shoe. In designing the shoes, she worked closely with the brand's creative director, Giovanni Morelli. "The evil eye is a powerful symbol meant to protect those who wear it from negative energies," Hadid told Harper's Bazaar of the inspiration behind her mules. "It's emotionally comforting and beautiful and captivating to look at."
Meanwhile, that new shoe line also boasted a philanthropic element, with proceeds from sales donated to Pencils of Promise, an organization that builds schools in Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos. With that in mind, Hadid offered a fitting tagline for her new shoe creations. "Look good, do good," she said in a statement, as reported by Yahoo! Movies.
In 2016, Gigi Hadid won International Model of the Year and hosted multiple awards shows
Gigi Hadid's career continued trending upward in 2016 as she expanded her reach beyond the confines of the fashion world, broadening her appeal as a celebrity in the mainstream. That was evident when she was tapped to host the iHeartradio Canada Much Music Video Awards. She followed that up a few months later with another hosting gig, sharing the stage with co-host Jay Pharoah at the 2016 American Music Awards. While critics weren't impressed with her hosting skills, she won raves for her multiple costume changes throughout the evening.
She capped off 2016 by accepting yet another honor, winning the International Model of the Year award at the annual Fashion Awards, held at London's famed Royal Albert Hall by the British Fashion Council. The occasion was made even more special when she was presented the award by Donatella Versace, one of her biggest idols in the fashion industry. "This is so crazy," Hadid said in her acceptance speech, as reported by Harper's Bazaar. "I just want to say that I know that I'm in the generation of social media, and I'm so blessed for that, but the fashion industry is my family, and you guys are the ones that I'm here for."
Interestingly, the two other frontrunners in contention for that award were both near and dear to her heart: Her sister Bella Hadid and her best friend Kendall Jenner.
Gigi Hadid is an activist — and it's come with some controversy
Throughout her modeling career, Gigi Hadid has used her platform to shine a spotlight on causes that are important to her, and the list of activist endeavors she's been involved in is a lengthy one. These include supporting BBC's Children in Need T-shirt project, hitting the streets to protest the Trump administration's controversial Muslim ban, sharing her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and donating all her earnings from fall 2022 fashion shows to aid Ukrainians impacted by Russia's invasion.
She's also become a UNICEF ambassador, meeting with refugees in Bangladesh and traveling to Senegal to inspect facilities serving women and children there.
One cause that's been particularly important to Hadid stems from her Palestinian ancestry and her father's history as a refugee. Gigi Hadid has been an ardent supporter of the Free Palestine movement. Following the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and Israel's decisive military response, she posted a statement on her Instagram stories. "Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas," she wrote, as reported by Variety.
Hadid's words earned her a stern rebuke from the Israeli government, which responded on Instagram. "Have you been sleeping the past week Gigi?" the scathing post read. "Or are you just fine turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes? Your silence has been very clear about where you stand. We see you."
Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik share a baby, but their relationship didn't last
Gigi Hadid has been linked with several famous men over the years, including Australian singer Cody Simpson, Jonas Brothers star Joe Jonas, and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton. In 2015, she began dating former One Direction singer Zayn Malik, even appearing in his "Pillow Talk" music video. The two made their red carpet debut in May 2016 at the Met Gala, and while rumors of trouble in the relationship recurred (as did rumors of an engagement), the two remained an item until 2018, when they made a public declaration via X, formerly known as Twitter, that they'd split up.
A few months later, the two were spotted kissing, and before long their shaky relationship was officially back on — until they separated again in 2019. Hadid was rumored to be seeing "Bachelorette" suitor Tyler Cameron. Rumors of a reunion were sparked in November 2019, and they were photographed together in January 2020. Soon after, TMZ reported that the two were expecting a baby. In September 2020, Malik and Hadid welcomed their daughter, Khai Hadid Malik.
They broke up again in October 2021 amid allegations that Malik had a physical altercation with Hadid's mom, Yolanda Foster. "Gigi is solely focused on the best for Khai. She asks for privacy during this time," her rep told People. Foster pressed charges, with Malik pleading no contest to four counts of harassment. He received 90 days of probation on each count.
There are rumors of a romance between Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper
In October 2023, Gigi Hadid was spotted having dinner with actor and director Bradley Cooper in New York City. "They are having fun," a source told People, describing it as a "super casual" relationship. Subsequently, another source told People that the two had been going away together on weekend getaways. "Gigi is great. She is getting to know Bradley outside of the city. They take weekend trips together," the source said. "She has fun. She likes that he is a dad, too." Soon after, they were spotted again out for a walk in NYC.
By December 2023, reports indicated that things between the two were becoming less casual and more committed. "They are getting more and more serious," a source told People, claiming that Hadid had also been spending time with Cooper in his hometown of Philadelphia. "They were pretty low-key when they were in town recently and had a date night in a private room at a local restaurant," they said.
That source also added that they'd been seeing each other for far longer than had been reported, but deliberately tried to keep their budding romance under wraps during that early stage as they figured out whether they truly clicked. "They had several months together privately and things have been going really well," the source explained. "Gigi and Bradley are actually getting quite serious," a second source told OK! at the end of December 2023.