In the Hadid sisters, Gigi and Bella, fashion has the makings of a new supermodel revolution. Together with their friend Kendall Jenner, these two have such recognisable faces they’ve transcended regular model status to become bona fide celebrities. We haven’t seen this level of model mania since the late ’90s/early 2000s when Linda, Christy, Naomi & co. ruled then runways.
When these girls walk in the same show, as Gigi and Bella did this morning at MFW for Max Mara, they bring an extra frisson of excitement to proceedings. Crowds literally go nuts. Occasionally one will take it too far – as a male fan did today after the show. He tried to grab her, and she gave him what for. She is queen of all the fashion animals after all. Don’t mess with her.
Gigi opened Max Mara’s tropical-chic SS’17 show, in a black-and-white palm print jumpsuit and matching visor. Bella’s first exit was in all-black; a sheer top over a black balcony bra worn with a provocative split skirt and one of the house’s iconic coats, this time re-imagined as a long-line evening parka.
It was a jungle in there, from the wildlife noises on the soundtrack to the topical prints on the sporty parkas, zipped bombers, flak jackets and body con dresses, and the animal motifs on the shaggy knits.
The collection was inspired by Latin American architect, designer and Renaissance woman, Lina Bo Barden. If you don’t know Barden’s work (which I didn’t), it’s a modernist melange, “at once rational and sensual, sleek and luxuriant, athletic and sultry, hi-tech and artisanal”. Okay but what I took from these clothes was a sense of fierce fun, which Gigi had no trouble embodying. The thing about Gigi is: she’s whatever you want her to be, somehow both the perfect receptacle and the ideal mirror for fashion’s current fantasies.
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