Gigi Hadid reveals the hilarious way her daughter Khai plays runway at home

Gigi Hadid’s New York Fashion Week morning started a little differently this year. Before she could make her way to the Tommy Hilfiger runway, the supermodel had another important stop to make: taking her 5-year-old daughter, Khai, to school.

“I dropped my daughter off at her second day of school this morning and came straight here,” Hadid told Live From E! Stream: Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2027 Runway Show. “So it’s definitely a new version of Fashion Week for me.”

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If it was up to Khai, she probably would have loved to stay for the show. According to Gigi, her mini-me is already loving the fashion and modeling world.

“She definitely understands the job now,” Hadid said. “She loves a Tommy show, something that’s uplifting and fun, and she’s very creative. So anything with not just fashion, but drawing, color, fabric, and performance, she loves that.”

And apparently, Khai isn’t content to simply watch her mom work. “She gets into her own little catwalks,” Hadid revealed. “But then she’ll be like, ‘Mom, you be security.’ So then sometimes I pretend to be the security at the top of the runway.”

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The Palestinian-American, who shares her daughter with her ex Zayn Malik, has kept much of Khai’s life relatively private. So the story is an especially cute glimpse at the way fashion has filtered into their everyday life. 

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The 31-year-old began modeling as a teenager and went on to work with some of the biggest names in fashion, including Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel, Versace and Marc Jacobs. Outside of the runway, she’s landed major campaigns, magazine covers and brand partnerships.

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Hadid has spent years becoming one of the most recognizable models of her generation, and returning to Tommy’s show brought back plenty of familiar feelings, as she has been connected to the designer and his brand throughout much of her modeling career. “To come back to do the Tommy show,” she said, “is so nostalgic and means a lot.”

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She said there’s something particularly special about the culture Hilfiger has built around his brand. “Starting the kindness from the top trickles down,” Hadid said. “I think that people can feel that from the world that he’s created, and I am really lucky and proud that I’ve gotten to be part of that.”