Again, Kaia Gerber is only 16 years old. She’ll be 17 in September. She could easily pass for 14, which was her age when Cindy Crawford started helping Kaia’s modeling career. Kaia has been a “thing” in the fashion industry for a good two years now, accumulating modeling contracts and walking runways for some of the biggest shows in New York and Paris. I have my concerns – about her age, about whether this is really what Kaia wants – but I guess I’m in a quiet minority. Everybody else is super-jazzed that Kaia is a model now, and the fashion industry is going out of their way to give her magazine covers and jobs. Kaia covers the latest issue of Vogue Italia – the cover isn’t that great, in my opinion. But again, I guess I’m in the minority. Some highlights from the cover interview:
She didn’t know her mother was a famous model: “You won’t believe it, but when I was little I didn’t know she was famous. I didn’t even know she was a model. For me she was just my mum, and it’s still a bit like that today. Sure, she’s got her life, but she’s one of those people who succeeds in never bringing her work home with her. Home is home, and work is work. This small, simple rule has always made us a very close-knit family.”
Memories of her mom going out: “’When she was getting ready to go out in the evening, I used to follow her to her walk-in wardrobe to see which dresses she would choose. Watching her getting dressed was like being under a kind of spell.”
The ‘90s-era supermodels: “They encouraged and supported me before I even knew who they were for everyone else. The fact is, like my mother they were also different in private. They kept their feet firmly on the ground, and that’s a quality I greatly admire.”
She learned about fashion by looking through her mom’s coffee table books: “On the coffee tables in the lounge, there were piles of books by fashion photographers such as Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts. I discovered what fashion was thanks to their photos. I’d go to the lounge and admire those images for hours sitting in the couch.”
Traveling the world & missing home: “Let’s say that while I’m traveling, my home is mainly inside the telephone, thanks to Facetime. Having video access to my family has changed my life, because even if our schedules are totally messed up – with me going to bed on the other side of the world while my family is getting up and gathering around the table for breakfast – it makes me feel as if I were there drinking coffee with them. Sometimes I leave the phone on while I’m sleeping so I can hear the sounds of their day.”
She’s grateful: “My mother has always advised me to be conscious of how lucky I am, especially with regard to traveling. Open my eyes, always be aware of where I am, and look out the window. Models have a very privileged job, and you mustn’t waste it by staying shut in a hotel room.”
[From Vogue Italia via The Daily Mail]
She sounds happy and suitably grateful for the opportunities which have been lavished upon her due to her mother’s reputation and connections. Cindy was always well-liked and popular within fashion circles, mostly because she was nice to everyone, professional and good at what she did. It seems that Cindy taught Kaia how to behave on fashion shoots, in interviews and more. I guess that’s better than the alternative: a brat who thinks all of this is normal. Kaia seems to know that she’s getting special treatment?
Cover courtesy of Vogue Italia, additional photos courtesy of WENN.
I get her confused with Rachel Bilson constantly. which is kind of weird since Rachel is like two decades older lol
She DOES look like Rachel! I never picked up on that before.
Yup, thought it was Rachel till I read the headline .
Oh wow, you’re right!
I think she looks ok. Not as stunning as her mother or brother. So the nepotism does work in her favor because if she was a nobody I doubt she would have moved up in that industry so fast.
Agreed
She looks SO MUCH like her mother. I am not surprised she is getting the work she is getting. Sometimes I think fashion houses look at this as an opportunity to have Cindy Crawford all over again.
That second picture is worrisome. She is too thin there in my opinion.
My thought, too 🙁
Oh my , yes her legs in the second photo are so thin.
I think that may be bad photoshop of the legs?
Usually she reminds me most of Rande Gerber, but she does look a lot like Cindy in the header pic. Her brother is stunning. I don’t care for her styling on the cover or pics, but she is beautiful & sounds like a good kid.
She is so young. She is also very thin. Much thinner than her mom ever was but I know she’s a child still. I always wonder if they would be interested if she wasn’t stick thin? Also, I’m pretty sure I could go to our local mall and fine at least 5 girls that look just like her. There seems to be something in the water! I went through the standard awkward phase of cutting my own bangs, coloring my own hair weird colors at home, and oh the zits of jr. high on my forehead! LOL Girls these days don’t seem to be going through that awkward jr. high year. I think it’s good for people. Lol.
Wow, she does look like Bilson! Crazy!
She looks like a combination between her mom and Rachel Bilson (who I idolize), so I do think Kaia is beautiful. Her legs are so tiny though, but then I remember how thin I was at 16 (not even 100lbs yet) and give her a pass until she’s 20 and starts to – hopefully – fill out.
She was never this thin before so it isn’t natural. Neither Cindy nor Rande are extremely thin and Kaia wasn’t either until she starting walking shows. She was slender but she wasn’t like this. Only weight loss and lack of nutrition can be blamed. Girls don’t drop 25 pounds from 15 to 16 out of nowhere.
Did some Googling and you’re right. This isn’t baby fat loss: https://goo.gl/images/nGqXDy
Cindy has been grooming for this her whole life. Kaia is not holding up to the pressure and I fear something tragic is going to happen to her. Her thinness is unnatural and she looks haggard most of the time. Cindy has been using all of her influence and contacts to make her happen and I guess it worked but at what price? She should be ashamed of herself but she won’t be.
i don’t really know much about the fashion industry but i cant imagine its a healthy place for young girls, and any woman really. makes me wonder why Cindy would put her daughter through it all? Cindy must have some bad experiences?
I think it’s very strange that this is what she wants her daughter to aspire to. They’re a wealthy and connected family-so Kaia has all kinds of opportunities to travel and do cool things without the pressure/weird experiences of being in the fashion world. Why not just go to high school and be a normal teenager?
@oliphant
It shouldn’t bother as much as it does but I can’t help it. She knows what it is like. I don’t understand why she would want this for her? Kaia is reportedly a sweet girl. Surely she could have waited until she was 18 or 19?
@MaryContrary
Personally, I don’t understand why college wasn’t an option. Kaia is just too young. She wanted to put her out there when she was 12. What does that say about Cindy? Nothing great. Why put that kind of insane pressure on a child?
I don’t like the concern trolling that usually goes on in the comments but I totally agree with you. She constantly looks exhausted and border line sick.
Cindy has a good head on her shoulders in some respects but she’s messed up also a fair bit. Anyone pushing their kids into this industry would have to be messed up.
When Cindy showed up in that Taylor Swift video, it confirmed what I suspected. She’s successful at it and it works but I’m hoping Kaia aims for something different at some point. Modelling and fashion is a creepy world. If she had Yolanda Hadid as a mom, I’d worry less but she has Cindy.
What years? 0 to 4? Celebrities are treated differently everywhere they go, especially in LA / Malibu. She’s pushing the “normal family” narrative because obviously her career is based on nepotism. Every interview answer she gives is carefully orchestrated by a PR professional. And you know what, it works. Pushing this narrative will make her more likable and marketable.
Yeah, Cindy has always had her home 🏠 on view (magazine interviews, IG) & its walls are covered with framed photos of Cindy’s fashion shots. And Cindy has talked about her charity fashion shows for which she had Kaia walk when just a kid. Or that she & Kaia would play ‘fashion shoot’. Please. It was always pretty obvious Kaia’s mom was a famous model. I’d say by the time she went to school she knew.
If she was young enough, I could buy that she just thought that was normal. But surely only when she was very young.
Cindy is an A grade professional b’ser. She has trained Kaia in kind. Those kids knew who their parents were. They were taking modelling photos of each other throughout childhood and Cindy had Kaia in bikini shoots before she was even 10 years old.
View Cindy through the Taylor Swift lens… it’s very similar fake niceness.
While she is a beautiful young lady, the cover pic reminds me of a girl putting on women’s clothing and acting a “part.” The clothes are wearing her.
She is pretty but there’s norhing remarkable about her. A lot less pretty version of R. Bilson.
Her “mum.” She’s British now? I hope she wanted to model, because I don’t think her mother would have allowed anything else.
Lol u beat me to it – I also was wondering about “mum”
Was the interview conducted with a British accent?
It’s Vogue Italia, so I’m guessing she was interviewed by someone who speaks British English and wrote it that way. I doubt she said “mum” herself.
This bugs me for some reason. Maybe I’m just old and cranky, but I feel like she’s too young for all of this. I’d rather see my own kid just being a normal teenager. There’s nothing to be gained from modeling right now.
I sometimes wonder if Cindy is pushing this because she wants to relive the height of her modeling fame.
Nope. I don’t see it. Cindy was/is stunning. This girl has no more draw than Kendull Jenner. Kendull may actually be better. (shudders at the thought)
Agree, she’s a pretty girl but has no charisma. Just nothing.
Hopefully she’ll be fine, whether she continues modelling or not. Both her and her brother seem like good kids.
She sounds like a nice person.
Either she’s been coached well or she really is that nice….from a media training perspective, good job! Once modelling is over for her, I suggest she open her own PR company and advise others how to do interviews. I’d also recommend she get an education, but I have no idea if that is important to Cindy.
I was never a fan of Cindy’s. I was more a Christy, Linda & Claudia fan. Cindy always came across as braggadocios. “I was in chemical engineering at Northwestern! (Except you were there for only a semester) “I ate a ding dong on Rosie & sales skyrocketed!” “I was the most popular guest host on the Late late show” “ Richard Gere was the 1st celeb I dated who was bigger than me” those are a few of the hits.
I agree her daughter has been thrust into this life. I think the comment about watching her mother get ready was actually really sweet the rest of the family comments seems like carefully worded PR. She is too thin & it should be a concern to her ‘mum’ but I think her “success” is just another notch for Cindy. Who I think looks a lot like Marie Osmond these days
Cindy honestly resembles Caitlyn Jenner.
OMG. You are right. She does look like Jenner. I can’t unsee it!!
Yes!! I have always thought Caitlyn modeled herself off Cindy. Cindy I think must look odd in the flesh these days.
I remember an interview from decades ago where she (Cindy) was asked what her pet peeves were. She said that she didn’t know, because she didn’t grow up with any pets!
Re: Kaia not knowing her mom was a supermodel… Sure, Jan.
Boy, that cover image does her no favors. She looks like Eddie Munster.
Her face looks longer than usual. I think it’s bad photo shop. Maybe to make her look older.