Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner Make Models Top 50 Debut

Photo: Rex Features

Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner have both made the prestigious Models.com Top 50 list for the first time. They join the likes of Edie Campbell, Lindsey Wixson, and Georgia May Jagger in what is widely considered to be the definitive guide to the top models of the moment.

While bigger names (the Caras, Kates, and Giseles of the world) are ranked in separate lists—from the New Supers to the Money Girls—the Top 50 list tracks the girls who are currently making waves within the fashion and beauty industries, thanks to their number of contracts, campaigns, and editorial bookings. Hadid's recent appearance in the Pirelli Calendar, coupled with a major Tom Ford campaign, landed her a spot in the roundup, while Jenner's huge Estée Lauder contract was responsible for cementing her a spot. Both girls have come from high-profile backgrounds—Hadid's mother is a star on reality TV show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Jenner's Kardashian clan needs no introduction—so how has that impacted upon their success?

"Kendall and I fall in the middle," Hadid explained to us. "There are girls that I know—obviously I’m not going to name names—that have come from successful families or are in the spotlight, and that don’t have a great work ethic and don’t strive enough to separate themselves. They don’t want to work hard. The difference, and why I say that Kendall and I fall in the middle, is that on one side we have great families who have been in the spotlight and taught us a lot, but we also have the work ethic to back it up. I just want to be someone that is known because people like working with me—even if they don’t know that my mum has been on reality TV. I’ve been backstage at Chanel with Kendall and she doesn’t ask for anything extra or expect to be treated differently, and that’s why I respect her and we’ve become really good friends because I think we both see very similar work attitudes in each other."
While the LA-born, 19-year-old Hadid acknowledges that she was fortunate enough to be given a head start, she denies that she's had to work any less hard. "Because my mum was in the industry and I have a great team behind me, I was taught the basics as a kid—I stopped modeling when I was 10 (after Baby Guess and Guess Kids campaigns) and I just went to school—but it was something that I always wanted to do and something that I always talked about, so my mom started teaching me," she said. "So in the two years that I’ve been modeling... I’d say most girls have to take two years to learn the basics, but I started with a lot of that basic knowledge, so I was able to concentrate on developing my own work ethic and work style. I guess I had a step ahead."

Born to Palestinian and Dutch parents, Hadid's distinctive look—almond eyes, naturally olive skin, beachy blonde waves—first had her noticed by Sports Illustrated. Work with Tom Ford and a cover of Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book soon followed, as well as catwalk appearances for everyone from Chanel to Marc Jacobs. Then, came the Pirelli Calendar, seen as having made many a supermodel's career.

"I've realized that I’m very hard-headed and when I set my mind to one thing, that’s where I’m going to go," she told us in Milan for the launch of the 2015 calendar. "It can be bad because it means I get tunnel vision and can close myself off to other potential opportunities. So what I try and do is look for different things and different aspects of people’s careers that I want to emulate, and I try to go day by day with smaller goals. My three things are 'Work hard, be nice, and make a friend', or at least make a connection. And I think that those little things have lead me to jobs that I wouldn’t otherwise ever dreamed of."

"I’ve met so many people that have lead me to opportunities, like the Pirelli Calendar, that I never would have thought were possible—just because I’ve made a good impression on them, or tried to be someone that people like to work with," she continued. "Even if there are people that don’t like me, I’d hope that when I work with them I could change their mind. If there’s anyone out there that’s judging my family or saying that I’m only successful for this and that reason, then I hope that if they were to work with me they’d change their mind."