I didn’t know that Kaia Gerber is a Virgo. Kaia’s 18th birthday was September 3rd, last week. Maybe I’m reading the right sites, but it didn’t seem like people made a huge deal about Kaia turning 18? Which… is good. There’s something very creepy about those male-dominated sites which feature “countdowns” to when celebrity women turn 18. Anyway, I thought Kaia was still, like, 15 years old, so her birthday and her age didn’t register with me at all. She seemed to be working and gearing up for New York Fashion Week on her birthday, but she still found time to celebrate and party last Friday. She decided to dress up in a dominatrix-lite ensemble, reminiscent of one of her mother’s famous looks. And… Kaia still looks about 14/15 to me, so I find those photos rather unpleasant. But happy birthday to her.
Kaia also covers the October issue of British Vogue. They haven’t released the full interview yet, but here are some quotes from Kaia and Cindy.
Kaia on turning 18: “Being 18… means independence. Age is very much so a concept, I think it places a label on you. Ever since I was younger people told me I was a really old soul. Because I felt I understood things I never learned.”
Cindy on nepotism: “Even though it probably bothers her, we all realise that, yeah, Steven Meisel will see her [because of who she is]. But you and I both know that Meisel, or Chanel, or Vogue – well, they might have her for an audition, but they’re not booking her because she’s my daughter… I mean, she’s doing things I never did.”
Kaia on what makes her nervous: She insists she found it “more intimidating to walk into school and be around people my own age” than to be on set with Meisel at 13. She doesn’t suffer with pre-shoot jitters to this day. “I mean, I’m just standing there – how bad can I do?”
She’s not dating anyone: “When I’m working, I don’t have the energy to even flirt with anyone. I’m sorry, I just can’t. But I’m not losing hope in all love forever. I have backgammon at my house, and that’s all a girl needs. When I’m home, I’m living the life of a 70 year old woman.”
Her advice to girls her age: “It’s just being yourself: not being afraid to read a book or talk about things that might be considered nerdy.”
[From British Vogue & Page Six]
“Age is very much so a concept, I think it places a label on you.” Oh my God. I’ll give her a break because she’s 18, but for the love of God. “I felt I understood things I never learned.” That’s the kind of sh-t I wrote in my journal when I was 16. Ah, the youths. As for the rest of it… I wish Cindy pushed less. I don’t doubt that Kaia wanted to be a model, but I also don’t doubt that Cindy gave her daughter few other options.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, British Vogue.
“they’re not booking her because she’s my daughter…” – sure Jane.
Of course she had a helping hand from Cindy, but there is no denying she is gorgeous.
Agreed. I think she’s easily the most talented young nepotism model apart from Cara Delevigne.
WORD.
Absolutely. Kaia is really beautiful and has the height and weight to be a really successful model on her own. Her answers are a bit twee but even I spoke like that when I was 18. I thought I was an “old soul” and was “mature for my age” at 18 but looking back I was just like any other teen who thought they knew everything. LOL!
I think that Kaia is stunningly beautiful but alarmingly skinny. I’ve always had the impression that she was under tremendous pressure to live up to her mother’s status in the modeling world and that is an unfair weight to put on a child’s shoulders. I hope that she stays healthy both mentally and physically.
In that dominatrix outfit she looks slightly healthier than say six months ago. Hopefully she’s taking care of herself.
She’s not too skinny. I’ve seen skinny and this is not it. It’s just that so many people are overweight now that maybe she does look thin to some.
True. She is looking a lot healthier. She also hasnt janked up her face with fillers and botox like “other” models.
I’m glad you find that because those photos of her and her mum were a shock to me. She doesn’t seem to have her grown-up face yet, or more like a Rachel Bilson type, very young student girl next door (although yes, of course very beautiful). Her mum though looks “real”, and an adult. It depresses me to no end to see a child in the hands of adults in a very addict-prone and ed-prone industry. But it also alarms me that this is the beauty standard we have now. Barely grown-up kids with baby faces, scarily thin legs and hollowed faces.
YES. Rachel Bilson that’s who she reminds me of.
Looking at the two side-by-side just makes me feel bad for Kaia. Cindy had that special something and even in that candid photo, there is just so much LIFE and energy radiating from her. She was super-sexy without trying. Kaia just looks like a little girl playing dress-up who simply doesn’t have the charisma or vivaciousness of her mom. She’s kind of Kendall-esque TBH.
Kitten – I totally agree with you. Kia is undeniably beautiful, but she lacks that spark that Cindy has.
How sad is it that the models we idolized in the 1990s would be considered too heavy by today’s standards? They were genetically gifted “clothes hangers” to begin with, but they had at least the suggestion of curves. With today’s models, even suggested curves are verboten.
I thought it was Rachel Bilson when I first saw the thumbnail.
Cindy is from an era when grown women were supposed to look like grown women.
The advice she gave to girls her age was a surprise to me, I thought she was going with the “everyone is beautiful in their on way” statement.
How does the writer not bang their head against a wall while interviewing people like this?! Old soul? Which means we shouldn’t question how she has been hanging out and partying with ppl way too old for her since she was 14 but it’s cool because she’s “beyond her years”. Ignoring the only reason she got modeling jobs is because of her mom and then her advice “continue to read even if ppl call you nerdy”?! When did being literate make you a nerd? The bar is set so low for these nepotism models that I guess we should be glad she knows what books are?! And tbh her brother is a far better model (she looks she’s playing dress up all the time) than she is but whatever…
No doubt she’s a beautiful girl but just *once* would I like to see a nepotism model/singer/actor acknowledge the immense leg up their name gives them. None of this ‘it might help me get seen but then it’s all on my hard work’ bs…getting in the room is 80% of the struggle. I don’t get the impression that she really dreamed of being a model either.
From interviews Cindy has done, it seems she shaped her daughter’s dreams into becoming a model. Playing dress-up was never just dress-up, it became photo shoot & runway. And so on. Cindy would have her in charity fashion shows from early grade school. It was always going to be this way. I think the side by side photos show the inherent problem with this & it’s so unfair to poor Kaia.
I agree with you but we’re never going to hear them say that because the reality is they have nothing to compare their lives to. Sure they meet and hear about other girls their age and how they live, but they will forever see the world through the eyes of someone extremely privileged who grew up with famous parents and tons and tons of opportunities and riches.
Sure it’s “hard work” being a model even if your mothers name got you in the room in the first place but hard work compare to W H A T..?
In other words: they’re too big headed to see the world as anything else than the bubble they live in and if their parents don’t teach them about the privilege they are being brought up in, they won’t see it or really appreciate it.
Wow… Looking at her mom in that picture is realising she’d never have a gig today in the model industry. She was not rail thin like her daughter who, I’m sure, must be on a constant diet.
I remember Cindy used to say how hard it was to get her arms into clothes sometimes. She was definitely outside the norm even in the 90s.
Give me a call when she doesn’t look like a child…raiding her Mama’s closet…
Objectively I know that some people ARE better at posing & strutting than others, but still the idea of one being “good at modeling” still strikes me as ridiculous and silly, like praising someone for their nose picking abilities.
I think it is much harder than it looks.
It’s really not something you work very hard at though. It’s more like one of those things you either have and need to refine a bit or you don’t and that’s all.
This also… 🙄 “I mean, I’m just standing there – how bad can I do?”
Wow… So the profession she chose is THAT exciting… She must be thrilled to do her job.
To me it just says that she is living someone else’s dream…
And then she’s going to spend the next decade saying stuff like: “I work harder than anybody because my mother is famous”.
I thought you were “just standing there”, hon.
Jeez, she just turned 18. Are you expecting some sage advice or deep thoughts? Give this girl a break. Yeah, she came from “privilege” so she is not allowed to sound like a normal 18 year old?
I don’t get it. She looks like a pretty and VERY thin teenager. I don’t find her face memorable at all.
I don’t know if it was her mother that pushed her into modeling or if it was her own choice or maybe a bit of both but I honestly don’t understand why she’s a model.
👍👍👌👌
I’m with you, Kitten. There’s nothing special here except she inherited a good combination of genes from her mom. Especially the side-by-side, you see the captivating “it” factor (sorry for lame phrase haha) Cindy had even in a casual photo. This little girl has none of it. Make that money though, I guess.
And but also if you’re going to spray tan, let it set BEFORE you pick foundation… eek.
Same, Kitten. I do not see it. She isn’t unattractive, but she has no presence and there is absolutely nothing about her that is memorable or in any way the same kind of “something special” that her mother and other supermodels have had. She just looks like a little kid playing dress-up. She looks really ridiculous in that dominatrix outfit.
Those side by side photos only make obvious that Kaia does not look like Cindy. I, personally, would have been mortified if someone made me up to be like my mother. I almost feel sorry for her.
I agree – Kaia does not look like Cindy. Presley (the son) does.
She has a famous mother who got her in the room most people will never enter, that’s why.
@Kitten Exactly. I do not agree that she is ‘a supermodel’ and I do not see where she is ‘stunningly beautiful’. No. She is a pretty gril with a very very thin body right now. What reall irks is the fashion industry hailing her as the second coming when she is so average. I hear she has a great catwalk walk but I do not get the appeal for women of seeing clothes on her body type. I mean, really?
I remember TMZ doing a countdown for Kendall’s 18th birthday so they could be creeps legally. So yeah, good no one made a big deal about Kaia.
But honestly, only difference now is that she’s finally allowed to be on Vogue covers since Condé Nast’s rule states no under 18 model should be covering Vogue.
Not a fan of those creepy countdown clocks nor encouraging them but let’s face it, she didn’t get one because nobody is checking for Kaia Gerber. She’s not a celebrity outside of small fashion circles. She’s a pretty girl but bland looking at the same time. Even now as an adult of 18 in a dominatrix outfit, she lacks any sex appeal. That side by side picture of her and her mother does a disservice to her and sets her up to be compared and found lacking. Someone needs to let her daughter grow up *outside* her shadow.
She’s already done French Vogue more than once and probably some other international editions too. Vogue Italia I’m sure of, because a writer I know did the interview.
She is gorgeous, has probably grown up way too fast, and was definitely pushed into this by Cindy. Cindy pushing her so hard has really changed my opinion of her. She was one of my fav ’90s models (along with Christy Turlington), and she’ll always be one of the greats, but pushing her kid into this soul-destroying industry so she could live vicariously through her is super messed up. Rande Gerber doesn’t get off the hook here either.
The side by side photos says it all. Cindy had the “it” factor. I don’t see that in Kaia. She looked dead eyed.
No she doesn’t have it. Part of the fun of magazines is working with models that do, and Kaia wouldn’t get a second look if it weren’t for her parents. I know these magazines/cosmetic/clothing companies are looking to connect with a young demographic, but it’s come to the point where I buy things in spite of the models, not because of them.
Cindy and randi obviously don’t think college is important for their daughter?
She’s pretty nothing special, nepotism lives.
I could be wrong and I hope I am but I’ve always had the sense that Kaia is living Cindy’s dream more than her own.
Yes, exactly. Her mother, Cindy, creeps me out with the pushing, and for what? Money? Fame? I don’t get it. She had the means to raise her child to be anything and she pushes for model. SMH.
Ego stroking. Mama Cindy gets to bask in the reflected glory of her “twin” mini-me and have people say “You two could be sisters!” etc.
Getting in those doors is 75% of the work of being booked. A further 15% is being vacuously pretty, sufficiently tall enough, and able to walk and tell me Cindy hasn’t been coaching this girl on how to walk since she first stood on two legs….
I’m very tired of how easily the children of celebrities dismiss the advantages of their birth.
After all, if there wasn’t a healthy dose of nepotism involved, we wouldn’t be subject to these throwback outfits or these interviews. “Allow me to remind you of my pedigree.”
Why is she dressed like a 50-year-old woman in that cover photo? I’m thinking British Vogue stylists were not-so-subtly critiquing the nepotistic choice of a cover model for this issue.
Right? Such odd styling for a pretty teenager.
I think she’s fly!
cannot wait to see more of her
Hey Cindy
hahahahaha
I think she’s really pretty, I think people are being too hard on her
She’s a beautiful girl, but she is no Cindy.
This. I wish they would stop trying to make her look (via outfits, makeup and clothing) like she is imitating her mother. I hope she can come out from Cindy’s shadow and craft an image of her own.
@Immy Yes!
She is a good looking girl but I think imitating Cindy is not a good idea because in every “homage” outfit her mother will always come out on top when it comes to beauty and charisma.
She should find her own unique look and style and I wish her all the best.
Where are all of the people screaming in outrage about her “privileged” status? I find her to be just another boring nepo-model. I hope she has other interests, because she really doesn’t have any particular charisma (apart from her mother). And what’s going on with her hair???
I remember when my friend got the cover of Vogue, and I was stunned because in person she was quite plain and anorexic. Also, in the magazine photos she was plastered with so much makeup that she looked like a totally different person.
“not being afraid to read a book” Are girls afraid to read books these days? Is that what we have descended to?
It would be cool if all of these famous people could stop pretending that they would still be models if they didn’t have connections.
Kaia, though not unattractive, is not memorable in any way in the looks department. She would not be a model if her mother was not Cindy Crawford. Period.
Ugh.
What a nightmare of a mother.
I’m sorry, but nothing about Kaia says “model” to me. That’s not an insult, the vast majority of us aren’t models. She’s very lovely, but I’m not seeing her in the modeling thing. But she’s Cindy Crawford’s daughter, and here we are.
It looks like Kaia tripped and skinned her knee. Models…they’re just like us.
Kaia may not have the spark or personality her mom has, especially live- she comes across less vivid than Cindy but she can pull off haute couture beautifully- the crazy outfits don’t overwhelm her and not all these nepotism models have that ability.
I find these very young females, including Kaia, modeling these fashions that are priced at luxury items/high fashion … really annoys me.
IRL, the women who can/will pay the cost of these gowns I would assume are over 20 y/o.
These very young models look too much like children playing dress up to get me to pay attention.
Cindy herself could still model and sell these luxury items more readily.
Another one whose parents have really pushed them to live that life. Cindy joins the club of Catherine Zeta, PMK, Lisa Rinna, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Flavin.
She’s really pretty…in my opinion…prettier than her mother was at that age..and way prettier than the two Hadid girls who’ve tweeted their noses, eyes, lips..and boobs…and still can’t hold a candle to the girl. Bella is prettier than Gigi in my minds eye..but Bella has had a lot of work done to look like she does.
Wow, that nose better not get any smaller or it will disappear totally! Let her come into her own! She is beautiful but i think being molded into something she isn’t.
Wow, that nose better not get any smaller or it will disappear totally! Let her come into her own! She is beautiful but i think being molded into something she isn’t. In that picture Kaia looks gaunt. Check out the cheekbones, hallowness under the eyes and those puny fore arms! I want to see a healthier version of Kaia.
Seeing the old picture of Cindy (before she ruined her face), makes me realize the son (Presley) looks like Cindy – not Kaia.
Kaia is a pretty girl and clearly has the right figure to model, but she is not captivating and gorgeous like her mother was.
[*Doesn’t matter though; her name will buy her way.*]
She’s attractive, but there’s no uniqueness to her and she does look like a young Rachel Bilson. That cover is not doing her any favors: the outfit, especially the headpiece, is swallowing her up and makes her look even younger.
“I mean, I’m just standing there – how bad can I do?” – Exactly. There are thousands of girls that could do the same thing, at least Kaia gets it. I don’t think there is anything wrong with nepotism in this instance. Cindy sells Kaia. It’s kind of obvious. But maybe acknowledge that rather than pretending it isn’t the case.
It’s not just the meetings/getting your foot through the door that nepotism affords. How many other young, inexperienced models who aren’t particularly unique get to book their first however-many gigs with top designers and photographers? None. Kaia was able to cut her teeth in the “real” modelling world, working with HUGE industry players and seasoned pros, from day one — which gave her training and mentoring opportunities that others can only dream of and helped ensure that she’s consistently employable and successful.