Model mother
Yolanda Hadid isn’t letting pageant moms get in her way as she mothers hopeful beauties in Making A Model.
Making A Model Season 1 Thursdays (from 14 February) SABC3 (*193) 19:30
It’s not often that professionals can return to their industry after retiring and be successful in a mentor role. Sportsmen, for example, struggle more as coaches than when they were on the field. It’s a different story in reality show Making A Model With Yolanda Hadid (2018- current), because Dutchborn Yolanda knows what she’s doing in front of the fashion lens and behind. “This is not my first rodeo working with upcoming models. These girls are 13 and 14 – they are learning the business and I am the perfect person to help them because I have been there. I have also curated fashion shoots,” explains the 55-year- old. There’s a difference between Yolanda’s show and other beauty reality shows like America’s Next Top Model (2003- current) and Project Runway (2004- current): the girls have brought their mothers with. “What you’ve heard about pageant moms, it’s nothing close to the truth,” says Yolanda. “They are wild. Wild!”
MOM INTERFERENCE
Yolanda has three kids who’re in the business (read the pink block on the right) and she makes it clear what her show is about: “We are not sending these young girls into work tomorrow. We are here to help them develop, to learn the ins and outs. It’s also about the relationship between the mother and daughter who are planning to go into this industry.”
The six youngsters already have an advantage that she never had as a teen in the beauty game, explains Yolanda. “My mom didn’t play any role in my career. I was young when I got into modelling. The way my mom raised me was very strict but free. I wish she had been there with me but the experience helped me grow as a woman and as a professional. I maybe wouldn’t be here in this position if it had been different.”
MAKING A MOMAGER
While the girls are perfecting their runway walks and pouts, Yolanda will be putting the mothers through bootcamp too. “This isn’t a holiday. They are here getting involved with their daughters’ careers and lives,” says Yolanda. There are no butlers and maids in the model house in New York and housework is handed off to the moms, which gets a few of them hot under the collar, says the mentor with a giggle. They also learn industry tools, like managing bookings and making sure that their daughters are seen by the right people at the right events and get their names out there. Social media has changed everything, adds Yolanda. “Everyone needs an instagram account now – even your dog who sits in your Louis Vuitton handbag. That can make your career – a few million likes today and tomorrow you’re on the ramp at New York Fashion Week.”