A model family you’re less likely to have heard about
Gigi and Bella Hadid are taking glam fashion business by storm
It was billed as the battle of the genetically blessed sisters: two of the hottest fashion models of the moment, born just 18 months apart, going head to head for the title of international model of the year. At last week’s Fashion Awards — the British industry’s Oscars — it was 21-year-old Gigi Hadid who walked away with the catwalk crown, beating her younger sister, Bella, 20.
And as Gigi posed in a shimmering silver jumpsuit, another sleek blond rearranged her trailing cape — Gigi’s mother, Yolanda, 52, a former top model herself.
The Hadids might well be the most beautiful family you have only just heard of.
Ask anyone under the age of 25, however, and they are likely to feel intimately acquainted with the model sisters. Gigi, who is blond with an exotic, feline esthetic, commands 26.4 million followers on Instagram, while Bella, the edgy brunette, boasts 8.4 million.
Gigi in particular is catnip for the paparazzi, thanks to her relationship with singer Zayn Malik, formerly of the British boy band One Direction, and her friendship with pop star Taylor Swift. But both women have soared to the top of the style pack.
Along with their younger brother, 17-year-old Anwar (who is now trying modelling, too), Gigi and Bella were born and raised in Los Angeles. Their father, Mohamed, is a Palestinian property developer whose net worth is now estimated at more than $100 million.
Mohamed married Yolanda van den Herik, a Dutch model and It girl, in 1994. Raised on a farm in Holland, she had worked in Paris, Milan, Tokyo and New York before moving to Los Angeles and retiring from the catwalk. Gigi — real name Jelena — was born a year later.
The couple divorced in 2000, but the family remained close. It was, reportedly, Mohamed who introduced Yolanda to her second husband, the multi-Grammy-winning musician, composer and producer David Foster, whom she married in 2011 (they separated last year).
Yolanda is best known these days for starring in reality TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She was a favourite among fans but contracted Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by ticks, in 2012, prompting her to leave the series earlier this year.
In spite of her reality show credentials, and the fact Gigi and Bella are close friends of fellow model Kendall Jenner, the second-youngest daughter of the Kardashian clan, that is where the similarities between the two wealthy West Coast families end. You are unlikely to find the Hadid sisters starring in a sex tape or posting naked selfies in the vein of the Kim Kardashian, or Yolanda taking on the pushy “momager” role of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.
“Yolanda admits that she has always been pretty strict with the girls,” says a family friend. “As a result, they are both extremely nice, very straightforward, level-headed and sensible with money, and they have inherited their mother’s sense of humour.”
Gigi was signed as a child model at just two years old and modelled for Baby Guess, but she stopped in order to concentrate on school. In spite of the family’s money, the girls attended a local state school. Both girls were keen equestrians; Bella had hopes of taking part in the 2016 Olympics, but had to give up competing in 2013 as she, too, contracted Lyme disease.
The girls began modelling in earnest after leaving L.A. to study in New York: Gigi first, in 2013, to study criminal psychology at The New School, while Bella followed the next year with a photography course at Parsons School of Design. Both put their studies on hold after their careers took off. It was not, however, all plain sailing. Upon moving to the East Coast, Gigi struggled to get signed and was criticized for having curves — which she has revealed were the result of hypothyroidism, a slowing of the metabolism that can lead to weight gain — instead of the usual waiflike model frame.
Gigi made her New York Fashion Week debut in February 2014, and quickly landed a campaign for Tom Ford’s eyewear.
“As a former model herself, Yolanda has passed on to her daughters all the things to watch out for,” says the family friend. “She’s told them what a brutal industry it is.”
By May 2015, Gigi had graced the catwalk for Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Michael Kors. Last December she featured for the first time in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
She has also graced the cover of U.S. Vogue, walked down the Bottega Veneta catwalk hand in hand with Lauren Hutton and launched her own collection for Tommy Hilfiger.
Bella’s New York Fashion Week debut came six months after her sister’s, in the autumn of 2014. She has since walked for Balmain, Chanel and Diane von Furstenberg. Last month in Paris, the sisters appeared in the Victoria’s Secret show together, with their mother cheering them on from the sidelines.