If the TikTok generation ever gets around to erecting a statue of Gigi Hadid, the model will doubtless be depicted wearing a cropped T-shirt, boyfriend denim and a pair of Adidas trainers. That is because Hadid has spent the past couple of summers clinging to this precise blueprint–as seen here, here and here–mostly while getting out of expensive cars and waving at strangers on the street.
She might be less of an experimental dresser than sister Bella Hadid, but Gigi has real conviction in her choices for this reason. The model was yesterday afternoon photographed strolling through New York in a navel-bearing tee, frayed jorts and Adidas Gazelles with a Miu Miu Arcadie bag customized with scarf-wrapped top handles. Her boyfriend Bradley Cooper wore a faded slogan T-shirt, cargo shorts and Salomon trainers. He is perhaps resisting yet another “Gigi-fication” headline post-Beanie-gate.
Like Kim Kardashian in beige shapewear or Victoria Beckham in black-out sunglasses, celebs have long taken ownership of a particular aesthetic to codify who and what they’re about. But Hadid’s choice uniform (tight tops and baggy jean shorts with bright-red sneakers) reflects that which most other 29-year-olds are wearing at the moment. It works because she is a woman of the people–a tomboyish equestrienne with a Tommy Hilfiger contract–and the clothes are therefore no fuss, approachable and easy to replicate, which positions Gigi Hadid as an older sister-type more than a multi-millionaire supermodel.