11 Things You Didn’t Know about Gigi Hadid
#11 Gigi’s Real Name
Although the name “Gigi Hadid” is practically a household name at this point, it’s not
the rising model’s real name (although it does have a nice, original ring to it).
Her actual name is “Jelena Noura Hadid”, however almost all of the world knows her
as Gigi.
When her mother, Yolanda Hadid, was young, her own mother would call her “Gigi” around
the house as a nickname.
This tradition passed on to Gigi, but ended up going a lot farther.
When Gigi entered school, another girl had a similar name – “Helena”.
This caused confusion with their teacher when she would call upon each girl, so she asked
Yolanda what nickname Jelena might have.
Yolanda mentioned the name “Gigi”, and over a decade later she’s still using it.
#10 Brow Game Strong
Eyebrows are one of the most defining elements of any person’s face – or at least that’s
been all the rave in the past several years.
From thin arches to bushy but elegant brows, the world loves to think of new trends to
incorporate and play around with.
Gigi Hadid, like many other famous models, has a nearly perfect set of eyebrows, however
she differs from the rest in one key element.
Gigi says that she doesn’t do anything to her eyebrows – that means no plucking, tweezing,
threading, waxing, micro-blading, or whatever other form of removal and redesign is circling
the Internet.
Instead, Gigi chooses to go all-natural and doesn’t even allow others to mess with her
eyebrows.
It works, because her brow game is so strong that she doesn’t need to fuss with them
anyway.
#9 Black Leggings
As one of the most prominent names in both the model industry and on social media, the
range of clothing options available to someone so fashionable are virtually endless.
Gigi Hadid only continues to prove that she’s one with the rest of the world, because in
addition to being a McDonalds regular and enjoying nothing more than being at home rather
than out and about, Gigi loves black leggings.
Out of all of the clothing options in the world, her favorite is a sturdy pair of black
leggings because of how universally easy they are.
In an E! interview, she confessed that she wears them 75 percent of the time.
With all of the travel she has to endure, the comfy and easy-to-match garment makes
a lot of sense.
#8 Famous Family
Gigi Hadid belongs to one of the most impressive families, runners-up only to the famed Kardashian
clan.
For herself, Gigi is a world-famous model and social media star with a great future
ahead of her, but her relatives are just as remarkable as the 22-year-old.
Gigi is the eldest sibling to younger sister and brother, Bella and Anwar Hadid, who all
come with unique backgrounds.
Bella is a part of the modeling world like her older sister, and the pair have actually
shared gigs and walked the runway together.
Separated only by a year age gap, the two are otherwise inseparable and are incredibly
supportive of one another in their respective careers.
Anwar is a rising model who signed to IMG Models, like his sisters, in 2016 with a major
following of 1.5 million users on the popular social media network, Instagram.
He was also seen on a Teen Vogue cover with fellow Instagram star, Cameron Dallas, for
the June/July edition in 2016.
The trio are all children to Yolanda and Mohamed Hadid, who have their own impressive careers.
Yolanda is a cast member on the reality television series, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,
and a personal nutritionist to her eldest daughter.
Previously, she was known for being a model, like her children, and an interior designer.
While Yolanda is no longer married to Gigi’s father, Mohamed, he also joins his family’s
wealth by being a well-known real estate developer who was hired to design the Ritz Carlton hotels.
In addition to this, through Mohamed, Gigi is related to Sheikh of Galilee and Prince
of Nazareth, Daher Al Omer.
To tie up the famous family is David Foster, recent divorcee to Yolanda and step-father
to Gigi.
He is a music producer and former musician with the pop group “Skylark” who has worked
with massive Hollywood names such as Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
Out of nearly 50 Grammy nominations, the amazing producer has racked up 16 awards and reportedly
had a net-worth of 100 million at one point.
#7 Athletic Angel
To match her stunning physique and outgoing personality, Gigi Hadid was an athlete for
most of her life.
When she was a child, she was raised in Los Angeles where her family owned a ranch that
housed barns filled with horses.
Because of this, the star became a competitive horseback rider alongside her younger sister,
Bella, who was due to compete in the Olympics for horseback riding but had to drop out due
to chronic Lyme disease.
Gigi continues to entertain the sport from time-to-time as a way to keep her body toned
and ready for the runway, because she didn’t earn her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
wings in December 2016 without a ton of hard work.
Horseback riding also provides fantastic psychological buffers to keep negativity away from the mind
and to overcome feelings of uncertainty, which is especially helpful since Gigi admits that
she suffers a case of the nerves before every runway show.
To keep herself healthy, mentally and physically, she also participates in boxing and was previously
the captain of the varsity volleyball team in high school.
To round out her athleticism, Gigi showed off the toned features all her sporting days
have acquired her in a 2016 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
The swimsuit edition saw the young model posing on the beach in the Islands of Tahiti, a massive
difference from on a horse ranch in LA, but also symbolizing the diversity that encompasses
Gigi.
#6 Face of Maybelline
Gigi Hadid is often very minimalistic when it comes to her day-to-day makeup looks.
While she rocks some of the fiercest faces on the runway, she can usually be seen with
nothing more than a bit of eyeshadow, some mascara, and a dab of highlighter.
Despite being a model and social media entrepreneur, Gigi admitted to using drugstore cosmetics
from retailers like CVS to achieve her daily makeup look, so it made sense when she became
the face of Maybelline.
Maybelline, a branch of major cosmetics corporation, L’Oréal, is a famous makeup brand available
at every retailer from Ulta to Walmart.
In 2015, Gigi became an ambassador for the company, and in 2016 it was rumored that the
megabrand and the model were teaming up to create something special together.
On October 13, 2017, Maybelline released “the first wave of #gigixmaybelline Jetsetter palettes”
according to the company’s Instagram profile.
With a variety of makeup must-haves, the face of Maybelline truly captured herself in the
multi-product palette and is expected to create even more sets with the brand.
#5 Criminal Psychology Major
Criminal psychology is a branch of learning that covers the concepts of criminal behavior
such as their thoughts, motives, intentions, and general decisions.
People that become criminal psychologists can see why fugitives do the things that they
do and are usually called into courthouses to help provide insight in their area of expertise.
What most people don’t know is that, in addition to being a beautiful model, Gigi
Hadid has interest in this field, which was first discussed when she made an appearance
on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, a reality television show that her mother stars
on.
Gigi admitted that she isn’t necessarily interested in going down the path of becoming
a criminal psychologist, but she does enjoy a good class debate and being in a learning
environment.
In 2013, Gigi enrolled at the New School, a comprisal of several education programs
in New York City, where she has completed courses whenever her hectic modeling schedule
allows it.
This might seem like a surprising choice for someone in the fashion industry, but it just
goes to show that beauty and brains go hand-in-hand.
#4 Singer Serial Dater
At just 22 years old, the term “serial dater” is a bit too hefty for Gigi Hadid’s love
life, but when it comes to the relationships she has had, there are no musician shortages.
In 2013, Gigi began dating Australian singer, Cody Simpson.
The two dated on-and-off for two years before permanently parting in 2015 after a highly
publicized relationship and split.
In a 2015 issue of DuJour, Cody explained, “I love my ex-girlfriend, I always will.
It was an amicable, mutual decision, and we still talk every now and then, but the highly
publicized thing made me uncomfortable.”
About a month following her split from Cody Simpson, Gigi began hanging out with and was
confirmed to be dating the former Jonas Brothers leading man, Joe Jonas.
The pair had met ten years prior during an awards show when Gigi initially caught Joe’s
eye, but their relationship only lasted five short months when it came down to it.
In that time, Joe, who belongs to pop group DNCE, enlisted Gigi’s help in directing
their band’s music video “Cake by the Ocean”, which marks her involvement in every
one of her boyfriend’s careers.
Shortly after splitting from Joe Jonas, Gigi Hadid met up with former One Direction star,
Zayn Malik, as he began hitting the top charts with his own, reinvented image following a
rocky split from the boyband.
Despite having a few unsure moments and momentary splits, the pair are still going strong to
this day.
Their relationship is incredibly public, with PDA, music video appearances, and Instagram
posts of their love saga just regular reminders of how cute they are together.
#3 Two-Year-Old Model
At just two years old, Gigi Hadid made her modeling debut.
She was discovered by Paul Marciano, the co-founder of clothing retailer, Guess, who enlisted
her with gigs throughout her childhood.
At some point, a young Gigi decided to put her career on hold so that she could be more
focused on school and having some normalcy in her adolescence.
In 2011, Gigi made her return to the modeling world and continued working with Marciano
and Guess, where she would go on to be the face of a campaign in 2012.
Since her time with the brand, which has expanded upon its original basis of designer jeans
to incorporate many different styles, Gigi has become an outstanding member in the modeling
community.
She has participated with major companies such as Versace, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, and
Tommy Hilfiger, for whom she became a brand ambassador for in January 2016.
#2 Prank Gone Wrong
Gigi Hadid was a large topic of controversy and awe in 2016 when she was targeted by celebrity-focused
“prankster”, Vitalii Sediuk.
Vitalii is a reporter who takes things to the next level, and often too far, by assaulting
famous people during public events and press conferences.
Because of his work with the Ukrainian TV Channel in the past, he’s been able to gain
backstage access to many popular affairs.
When Gigi was exiting a fashion show in Milan, Vitalii managed to sneak behind her and lift
her up above the crowd.
She began screaming and elbowed him in the face until he put her down, to the point of
where she chased him down the street yelling profanities – actions that sparked interest
and debates throughout the world.
After Vitalii confirmed that it was in fact him in the incident, he went on to explain
that the reason behind doing it in the first place was to convince the fashion industry
to stop allowing “well-connected cute girls from Instagram” to walk the runway.
He added, “While I consider Gigi Hadid beautiful, she and her friend Kendall Jenner have nothing
to do with high fashion.”
Clearly, Vitalii, who was since banned from the United States after similarly attacking
many other celebrities including Brad Pitt and Kim Kardashian, had no clue how successful
Gigi’s talents could make her.
#1 Hadid Jenner
Kendall Jenner is one of the top rising models in the fashion industry.
With roots on social media and even within her famous family, it makes sense that Kendall
and Gigi aren’t just fellow models – they’re also best friends.
Although this is a well-known fact to anyone who isn’t living under a rock, what people
might not know is that the Jenner and Hadid families’ ties go deeper than most realize.
Until recently, Gigi’s mother, Yolanda, was married to music producer, David Foster.
David had been married to Linda Thompson before this, and Linda was Bruce Jenner’s first
wife.
Bruce, who now goes by Caitlyn Jenner after she introduced herself as a trans woman in
2015, is the biological parent to Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
Before this dynamic duo arrived, Caitlyn fathered Brandon and Brody Jenner with Linda Thompson,
who were then the stepchildren to David Foster.
If that’s too confusing, the “too long, didn’t read” is that Kendall’s half-brother’s
stepfather was also the stepfather to Gigi.
It’s still pretty confusing, but to sum it up, Gigi and Kendall are as close as sisters,
and they even created their own hashtag mashing their names together to prove it: #Kengi.