Gigi Hadid Speaks on Struggling to Become a Model: "[Agencies] Were Like, You Have to Lose a Lot of Weight"

Gigi Hadid reveals she had struggles finding a modeling agent because of her curves.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Gigi Hadid is quickly becoming one of the hottest names in the modeling industry. However, Hadid reveals that it hasn't always been so easy as she struggled to find representation in the beginning of her career because of her body, the model revealed in an interview with The Daily Mail.

"When I first went to visit different agencies in New York, a lot of them were like, you have to lose a lot of weight," she told The Daily Mail. "I would cry at night and my mom [reality star and former model Yolanda Foster] would be like, 'We're going to find the [right] people.'"

Now, Hadid says that she has become known for her curves and believes she is changing perceptions about the type of bodies we typically associate with high-fashion campaigns and runway shows. "I'm kind of the model that everyone thought would always be the Guess, Sports Illustrated girl [Hadid has modeled for both], then when I started to do high fashion stuff," she says. "People were like, 'Oh so we can have a girl with like thighs and a butt in a Tom Ford campaign, cool.'" Hadid says she refused to change her body because she hopes to be a role model for young girls. 

Hadid's modeling career hasn't changed her dining habits. She says she still "eats like a man," which means devouring a "a burger a couple of times a week." In case you're wondering, Hadid, who tried multiple burgers when she moved to NYC in search of the best one, says J.G. Melon serves up her favorite. 

A model who loves burgers, is a Lakers and basketball superfan, and looks like this while covering major magazines? Sign us up.

Latest in Style