The Hadid Sisters: Dominating Fashion & Luxury in 2017
Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
The Hadid sisters, Gigi and Bella, have in the last few years become household names. As supermodels seen on the runway, in magazines, and in billboards around the world, the two young women from L.A. have made a name for themselves at a time when social media is a key factor of success.
The Hadid sisters, Gigi and Bella, have in the last few years become household names. As supermodels seen on the runway, in magazine, and in billboards around the world, the two young women from L.A. have a made a name for themselves at a time when social media is a key factor of success.
Born from a Dutch model mother and a real estate developer father, neither strangers to reality TV, the young ladies recently proved to the world that they were part of the new generation of supermodels, along with Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, and Karlie Kloss. At 21 and 20 years old, respectively, the sisters have signed with the most recognized names in the fashion, beauty, and luxury industries. These “Instagirls,” so called by Vogue thanks to the role of social media in their trajectory to success, not only have the attention of brands the world over, but of a combined audience of over 40 million, just looking at Instagram alone.
Gigi Hadid
With a very early start at the ripe age of 2 years old, Gigi Hadid is no stranger to the world of modelling. Having gotten her start as a model for GUESS in 1997, Gigi really got things going in 2013, with her signing to IMG Models, and walked her first runway for Desigual in 2014. Since then, she has grown up “digitally” and professionally. With an Instagram account of more than 29 million followers, 2,370 posts, 26 million likes, and an engagement rate of 90.54% for the 20 lasts posts, Gigi has a substantial platform.
In 2016, Gigi entered the Forbes highest-paid models list in the 5th position (with earnings of 9 million USD) thanks to the many contracts she’s signed in the past years. Gigi’s 2017 is off to a good start where at least eight brands call her an ambassadress:
Tommy Hilfiger
After becoming the brand ambassador of Tommy Hilfiger, Gigi co-designed a first collection in 2016. In 2017, Gigi and Tommy came back with a new collection called TOMMYxGIGI, “a special collection co-designed by the king of East Coast classics and the queen of West Coast cool.” The collection has been well received on social media.
Fendi
This campaign co-starring Bella and Gigi has been shot by Karl Lagerfeld himself.
Max Mara
Campaign directed by the well-known photographer Steven Maisel, Gigi poses for Max Mara accessories.
Stuart Weitzman
After Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen, Gigi Hadid comes back for the third time as the frontwoman for the luxury shoe brand.
Maybelline
Gigi became the new face of Maybelline at the very end of 2014, stating that it represented a lot for her as “I secretly bought Maybelline’s SuperStay 24HR concealer at CVS. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.”
Moschino
Gigi and her sister Bella are co-starring in this campaign.The goal was to represent the sisters’ real life, featuring their reality with crowds and paparazzi.
DSQUARED2
DSQUARED and Gigi have just started their partnership. Gigi has been cited as being the perfect choice for the brand as she matches perfectly its value of being casual and fashionable.
Bella Hadid
Following in her older sister’s footsteps, Bella Hadid started modelling in 2012, and signed with IMG Models in 2014. Few months after Bella did her first runway show for Desigual. Like Gigi, Bella is also highly implicated in the digital stratosphere with an Instagram account of more than 10.6 million followers, more than 9 million likes, and a 85.33% engagement rate on her 20 last posts.
February 2017 has been an important month for Bella, who signed for the first time with a luxury watch brand, TAG Heuer, and a luxury jewelry brand, Bulgari.
Bella’s recent success has rewarded her with a number of accolades, including Model of the Year, making her even more valuable for the different brands she represents. At least 8 brands have active partnerships with Bella:
TAG Heuer
Just announced this week, Bella has been named a brand ambassador of millennial-seeking watch brand, TAG Heuer. The creative features the athletic model in boxing gear with the brand’s tagline, #DontCrackUnderPressure.
Bulgari
The storied Italian jeweler has been making a strong play for its leather accessories, and has just named Bella as its representative. The 20-year-old has admitted that Bulgari was a household name growing up. Her mom was a fan.
Dior
Bella was named as Dior beauty ambassador back in 2016 and has since been gracing the brand’s beauty advertisements and making appearances in how-to videos.
Boghossian
The high-end Swiss jeweler has featured Bella in the brand’s ethereal advertisements for the second campaign in a row.
DKNY
Bella is prominently featured in the brand’s New York centric advertisements. The new campaign follows just a short while after G-III Apparel Group Ltd. acquired Donna Karan International for $650 million from LVMH.
Moschino
Fendi
2017 also landed Bella her first Fendi campaign. Shot by Karl Lagerfeld and featuring the Spring / Summer 2017 collection.
Zadig et Voltaire
Bella fronts the brand in a new campaign just released by the French brand. And a new Hadid sibling appears! Gigi and Bella’s younger brother, Anwar, a fresh face on the modelling scene makes an appearance. Judging by the success of his two older sisters, we’ll be seeing more of him in no time.
Image Courtesy of TAG Heuer
Digital Content Editor, Luxury Society
Roxane is a Luxury Society Content Editor where she is responsible for the day-to-day publication of the platform’s luxury industry content.