Gigi Hadid, first supermodel to owe her fame to social media

Gigi Hadid is one of those stars who suddenly starts to land magazine covers and trend on Facebook even though you’re not quite sure who she is, why she’s famous and if you should care that you don’t know who she is or why she’s famous.

If you’ve decided that you think you should care, now is the time, because Hadid just made her debut appearance in the famed Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

As it happens, Hadid is the ringleader of a new class of supermodels who are stealthily infiltrating the ranks of mainstream fame, thanks to a savvy understanding of the way celebrity works these days.

You may have seen Hadid, 20, in Taylor Swift’s splashy Bad Blood music video earlier this year; or on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in which her mother, Dutch former model Yolanda Foster, is a cast member. But more important than her TV appearances or lucrative modelling contracts is the way that Hadid - much like Karlie Kloss, Martha Hunt, Lily Aldridge and other rising models - has managed to elevate her profile through her strategic use of social media. The Gigi on display for millions of online followers is one that insists she is really Just Like You - even though she’s a celebrity supermodel.

Take her now-viral Instagram post that slammed body-shamers. “I’m not going to lie, I did let the negativity get to me a little,” she wrote after some commenters made rude remarks about her catwalk bikini photo. “Your mean comments don’t make me want to change my body ... if I didn’t have the body I do, I wouldn’t have the career I do.” The underlying message: Even supermodels have insecurities.

She also tries to prove that despite her family money (her father, Mohamed Hadid, is a wealthy real estate developer), she still works hard on her own. One episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills featured Hadid’s high school graduation bash, a lavish fete held in a gigantic mansion. Though viewers may have rolled their eyes at what Foster called her daughter’s “little party,” Hadid’s emotional speech in which she thanked her parents was admittedly moving.

“One thing I’ve always said about my parents is that they both came from amazing families, but they both definitely had to work their way up for the life that they’ve given me,” Hadid said through tears. “And obviously, beautiful homes and great opportunities have come with having them as parents. But I think the best thing they’ve given me is their work ethic.”