Gigi Hadid at her first Met Gala in May 2015.
Photo Credit: Pop Sugar

Supermodel Gigi Hadid takes time out of her busy Paris Fashion Week Schedule to speak out about the reasoning behind an open letter she wrote and posted on Instagram to call out her body shamers and encourage people to break stereotypical molds.

Aside from walking in shows such as Tommy Hilfiger and Giambattista Valli, attending parties, and hanging out with fellow supermodel friends, Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne, at a Paris soccer match, Hadid sat down with a Vogue editor to explain the letter she posted on Instagram earlier this school year.

She said “here are people who feel like they’re able to hide behind their usernames and their private accounts, who feel like they can say whatever they want and it won’t affect anyone.”

Hadid doesn’t usually let negative comments get her down, but this time she felt she had to say something to shut down the idea of changing for others. She calls her 6.8 million Instagram followers to “at least be open if not part of the change, because it’s undeniably happening.”

Hadid addressed in her letter that she does not have the body type of a stereotypical model and shared her experiences from when she was trying to break into the fashion industry and modeling agencies told her that they would only sign her if she changed her body. She stood up for herself and her image, which eventually led to her signing with IMG Models because they supported “who she already was.”

Since posting her letter to Instagram, Hadid is overwhelmed by the support she has gotten from people ranging fellow Victoria Secret models to celebrities such as Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Kris Jenner. She was most touched by the support from Tyra Banks because she has always been an inspiration to Hadid and someone who understands the type of criticism she is getting.

Hadid’s goal when she broke into the fashion industry was to represent the change that was beginning, and she has certainly done so.

By Erin Garry ’16, Staff Writer