Gigi Hadid felt ‘big guilt’ over her privileged upbringing

Gigi Hadid’s privileged upbringing made her feel guilty when she first broke into the fashion industry.
The 23-year-old was born in Los Angeles to real estate developer Mohamed Hadid and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Hadid, a reality show in which Gigi and her sister Bella also both appeared in multiple episodes. After moving to New York and signing to IMG Models in 2013, Gigi’s modelling career began to take off, though she’s admitted that her fortunate background meant she felt extra pressure to work hard.
“I know I come from privilege, so when I started there was this big guilt of privilege, obviously,” the fashion icon confessed in an interview with Vogue Australia. “I’ve always had this big work ethic, because my parents came from nothing and I worked hard to honour them. There are so many girls who come (from) all over the world and work their a**es off and send money home to their families like my mother did, and I wanted to stand next to them backstage and for them to look at me and respect me and to know that it’s never about me trying to overshadow or take their place.”
The supermodel – who has worked with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Versace and Balmain – went on to add that she wanted to prove herself “so badly” that she would overwork as a result. Luckily, Gigi has finally learned how to tackle her workload in a healthy way.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last year, just figuring out what my priorities are and learning how to manage my time to prioritise the things and people that are important to me, because I’m hard on myself with those things,” says the star, who is rumoured to have rekindled her relationship with ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik. “Learning to say no, I think, is a big thing I’ve had to tackle … everyone has to learn to stand up for themselves at a point in their lives and in work.”