Gigi Hadid Wants a Bit of a Career Change

Gigi Hadid is only 26, but she’s not necessarily incorrect when she says she’s accomplished just about everything she wants when it comes to modeling. There are few catwalks she hasn’t stomped down, and even fewer covers she hasn’t graced. So, with the reset provided by lockdown and a new child, Hadid tells i-D that she’s thinking about something of a career change in the near future.

“Having had all my dreams come true in fashion, and saying: ‘Now what?’ I don’t need another cover or campaign,” she told the magazine. “I would rather leave that to a new face, someone for whom it would really change their life or career at this point. Where can I make way for that next generation and focus my energy and time on something else—something that is obviously still in this world but is fulfilling for me, creatively, and different?”

Hadid adds that being a new mom has made her yearn for a bit more career stability. She even says she’s ready to trade jet-setting around the world in favor of office life. “I love the idea of going to the same office or studio or whatever that is multiple days a week, with the same crew, the same people, maybe a little playroom that I can make for Khai at work.” (Perhaps she’s seen Kylie Jenner’s office tour, then?)

But what kind of work would Hadid do at this office?

“I’m working on design ideas in terms of my own brand and I’m narrowing that down to a niche that I think would be cool to bring into the world with my name attached to it,” the model says.

Ah, yes, her own brand. Specializing in what, exactly, is left unclear, but these aspirations shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

Indeed, the new reality of modeling means an iconic figure can keep walking runways and scoring covers for decades, but the new reality of celebrity in general means a second career as something of a mogul is also well within reach. Hadid’s friend Kendall Jenner, for example, just launched her own tequila brand. Kate Moss is the proprietor of her own modeling agency. Runway legend Iman was an early pioneer of the concept of the celebrity makeup brand. Cindy Crawford has a furniture line and a skincare line, Meaningful Beauty.

Hadid, with her 67 million Instagram followers, is well primed to follow in their footsteps with whatever niche she decides to specialize in. In fact, it was likely inevitable she’d join them eventually.