Gigi Hadid has grown from supermodel to mogul, turning her knitwear label into a serious fashion business while still commanding a runway

BY TIA KIM

Gigi Hadid’s discovery story began absurdly early. Born in Los Angeles in 1995, she was just two years old when Guess co-founder Paul Marciano spotted her through a family connection and put her in Baby Guess and Guess Kids campaigns. Hadid eventually walked away from modeling to pursue something resembling a normal childhood, devoting herself to competitive horseback riding and club volleyball (she even reached Junior Olympic qualifiers) before returning to fashion in her teens and signing with IMG Models.

Success came quickly. Hadid made her New York Fashion Week debut for Desigual in February 2014, but the real ignition came when Carine Roitfeld championed the then-18-year-old, putting her on the cover of CR Fashion Book. A Sports Illustrated Swimsuit appearance and Tom Ford campaigns followed, and within little more than a year she had gone from promising newcomer to one of fashion’s most recognizable faces. By 2015 she was a Maybelline ambassador, walking her first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and appearing on runways for Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Versace, Balmain, and more. In 2016, the British Fashion Council crowned her International Model of the Year, and she has since accumulated more than 35 international Vogue covers. Amassing more than 74 million followers on Instagram, the social media “it girl” became one of the first fashion icons of the digital era.

Hadid began translating her success into design in 2016, teaming with Tommy Hilfiger on the wildly popular Tommy x Gigi collection. Six years later, she struck out on her own with Guest in Residence, a cashmere label built around colorful, high-quality knits designed to be worn, loved, and eventually passed down. Margot Robbie and Sabrina Carpenter became early fans, and today the brand generates $30 million in annual revenue. Still, entrepreneurship hasn’t pulled Hadid away from the runway: this year, she returned to Paris to walk for Balenciaga in a dramatic head-to-torso cloak of iridescent black rooster feathers – a reminder that even as her fashion empire expands, she can still command a catwalk.

GIGI HADID — @gigihadid