How Yolanda Hadid Turned Her Daughters Into the Runway Stars and Style Icons They Are Now

Perhaps everyone has heard about the Hadid family — the supermodel sisters and their brother who continue to appear on magazine covers, and their mother, the former model whose strict character may be the reason for the kids’ success. Within the first 30 years of her life, Yolanda made her way from a Holland farmworker and a dishwasher to a runway supermodel. And she passed on this career like a relay baton to her daughters, Gigi and Bella.

We at Bright Side decided to learn more about how Yolanda Hadid turned her kids into supermodels.

Yolanda Hadid lost her father at an early age, and that’s why her mother raised her and her brother alone. The girl dreamt of horseback riding and sports. Today, Yolanda is not shy about the fact she had to work an endless amount of hours on the farm, cleaning stalls and feeding the animals. This allowed her to ride horses.

But she was always short on money, so she had to work in a local Chinese restaurant on weekends — she was a dishwasher. “After hours and hours of washing, I smelled like a fried noodle. My hair and clothes were so greasy that my mom made me get undressed before I even entered our home and sent me straight to the shower.”

The turning point in Yolanda’s life was at a fashion show in Amsterdam, where she got into accidentally. A designer saw a tall blonde girl and asked for her to replace one of his models on the runway. “I had never worn a stitch of makeup or a pair of high heels. I was straight from the barn to the catwalk with no idea what to do, so I just looked at the other models and imitated the way they walked and held themselves.” That day, a scout from a model agency saw Yolanda, and that’s how she started her career.

Yolanda had been working as a model for 15 years before she met a rich real estate developer, Mohamed Hadid. Their marriage lasted for only 6 years, but they welcomed Bella, Gigi, and Anwar during this period.

After having left the runway, the former model concentrated on her kids. Yolanda likes to talk about how she raised her daughters. For example, when the sisters were 4 and 5, their mother took them to the center of Los Angeles and showed them the homeless people there. This is how, in her opinion, the girls were supposed to learn humility and have gratitude for what they had.

They never had designer clothing. Just like Bella, Gigi got her first Chanel bag when she turned 18.

Every day, the girls had training in horseback riding and spent their weekends at horse exhibitions. For that, they woke up at 4 or 5 in the morning. Yolanda believed that sports disciplined her kids.

It was important for Yolanda to stay financially independent, and she wanted to teach her kids to be this way too. “I made a deal with Mohamed, and I told him, ’By 21, all our 3 children will be financially independent and live their own life.’ I did it, and my children can do the same.”

The girls had their own dreams. Bella was getting ready to become a professional horseback rider and take part in the Olympics, but Lyme disease interrupted her plans. Also, Bella was into photography. Before starting her career as a model, Gigi was studying criminal psychology, but left her studies after diving into the modeling business.

Yolanda didn’t let her daughters get into modeling seriously until the moment each of them turned 18. That caused many arguments with Gigi, who wanted to do it at 16 and didn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to do it.

“I told her to trust me and wait, and 4 years later, she thanked me for giving her those 2 extra years of childhood.” Gigi’s debut took place at the New York Fashion Week in February 2014. She took part in the show of the Spanish brand, Desigual.

6 months later, Bella joined her elder sister. She repeated Gigi’s way, debuting in the Desigual show in September 2014.

Gigi admits that her appearance changed greatly since she started to work on runways, but, according to her, that is thanks to the power of makeup: “When I look back on my first red carpets when I didn’t have makeup artists I would obviously do my own makeup.” While working with one of the best makeup artists, Gigi learned the secrets of contouring, which gave her face a more expressive look.

Bella says, “My mom did always tell me, ’Skin before makeup.’ In other words, it’s better to keep your complexion in tip-top shape rather than having to scramble to cover irritation on the surface.”

From the start of her modeling career, Yolanda corrected some aspects of Gigi’s life. For example, she didn’t like that her daughter was playing volleyball and asked her to make a choice between sports and the modeling business. On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reality show, there are moments where Yolanda is seen reprimanding Gigi about dieting and doesn’t let her eat a piece of cake at her own graduation party.

Rumors say the girls corrected their physical imperfections that would prevent them from building a successful modeling career with the help of cosmetologists and surgeons. But Yolanda says that Gigi and Bella have never received beauty injections or plastic surgery. On her fifty-fifth birthday, she confessed that she had finally gotten rid of her breast implants, Botox, and fillers.

She answered the following way to the questions about her daughters: “None of my children have ever done fillers or Botox or put anything foreign in their bodies. They know better after seeing what I went through.”

If you look at the photos from the family albums that the models and their parents actively post on social media, we can assume that Gigi inherited her appearance from her mother’s side.

While her sister, Bella, resembles their father.

Today, Gigi and Bella are 2 of the highest-paid models in the world. They have modeled tons of clothing, footwear, accessories, and cosmetics brands.

Do you think Bella and Gigi owe their success to their mother?