Alana Hadid has done New York Fashion Week before, but never like this.
The stylist and founder of the clothing brand La Detresse has caught the shows as an influencer and even thrown parties for her own brand during the event, but this time, she’s walking the runway herself, as her half-siblings Gigi, Bella and Anwar have all done in the past.
And it was something that happened serendipitously, when she reached out to a few designers ahead of attending Copenhagen Fashion Week in August. People ended up asking Hadid to model for them, and she sashayed down the runway for both Saks Potts and Munthe. The experience has opened up a whole new career path for her. On Tuesday, she’s making her debut at the world famous NYFW as a model for the first time, at the show for Elena Velez. She hopes is the first of many jobs.
Yahoo Entertainment caught up with Hadid before her big assignment to ask her about her siblings’s reaction to her gig and to get her take on stepping into the spotlight as a model.
1. What kind of advice did your siblings offer, and what did they think about your success?
“They were really excited for me and really proud, but I didn’t get any advice on it. They just wanted me to go out there and enjoy myself, and that’s what I did… I think they knew that it was going to be in my blood. So I just went out there and did it.”
2. You’re becoming a runway model at 40, which is not old, but it’s unusual in modeling. What are the pros and cons of making your debut at that age?
“Well, one, I don’t really see any cons. I think the pros for me are numerous. I think inclusivity is super important and for people to see… people who are buying from these brands, to see people who look like them, I think, is super important. I also think becoming a model at 40, I am really self-assured. I really know myself, and so I feel incredibly confident, and I feel like it’s an exciting journey to take at 40. And to show that you can start something new at 40 is fun for me.”
3. There have been slight changes in our youth-obsessed culture in the past few years. I’m thinking of older models getting hired, like supermodels from the ’90s or even Maye Musk and other newcomers. Are we beginning to see age differently?
“Oh, I think 100%. You see a lot of really amazing influencers, models, all sorts of people. I think that it’s about inclusivity and also seeing the people reflected, the people who are buying and engaging in these brands and these companies, being reflected back at them by the models that are being used in campaigns, that are being utilized on the runway. And I think that kind of inclusivity is super important, and I think it’s changing fashion in a really amazing way, and it’s exciting to watch and be a part of.”
I think [attitudes are] shifting a little bit more now, but I know that I was subliminally told that if I hadn’t done it all by 40, that I wasn’t going to get to do it. And so I’m excited, not just that I’m a 40-year-old doing runway, but that I’m starting my runway career at 40, and I think that I want people to take away that 40 isn’t the end. It can be just the beginning, and that you can start something new at any time in your life, and 40-plus is a beautiful and an exciting time.”
