“I Have Imposter Syndrome All the Time” Gigi Hadid on Being the Founder of Guest In Residence

Today, Gigi Hadid and her friend Vogue’s Fashion Editor-at Large Gabriella Karefa-Johnson sat down at Vogue’s Forces of Fashion to talk about Hadid’s newest venture, her cashmere label Guest in Residence. The colorful, baby palm-soft brand is a new undertaking for the world-renowned model. Hadid, who was wearing her very own Guest In Residence cashmere, opened up to Karefa-Johnson about what it felt like to launch a business and design pieces.  

During the conversation, the duo, who first met years ago on a Vogue shoot, discussed Hadid’s transition from model to business founder. Hadid, who is also a mother, long had the idea to create the label. (She recalled her parents giving her a cashmere sweater to brace the New York cold when she enrolled at The New School.) Though it was when she found out that she was pregnant that served as the catalyst for her to jumpstart the label. “You can’t model forever. I was creative and that is where I saw my life going,” she said, adding. “I already had been thinking about cashmere, but I think it [pregnancy] just made me think about how much more settled I would feel to have an office space job. I can take my daughter there with me.” 

And with a new label come new responsibilities. “Sometimes I forget that you are a creative director and a boss of a huge company,” said Karefa-Johnson. Hadid agreed with Karefa-Johnson’s statement, saying. “I have imposter syndrome all the time.” Yet Hadid is far from an imposter. The model noted that while there is always a temptation to put one’s name on something fast fashion, which can guarantee instant gratification and instant revenue, she chose to take a more thoughtful and sustainable route. (Hadid mentioned that she specifically picked a mill that reseeds.) Here, cashmere especially was instrumental in creating a thoughtful product. “And I thought that it was a bit not necessarily obvious, but expected for me to come out with something that was more a fast-fashion type situation,” said Hadid, adding: “It just felt like the right material that I could play with in a lot of different ways that was true to me, true to my style.” 

For more, visit the Forces of Fashion website. https://vogueforcesoffashion.com/