Gigi Hadid is opening up about her relationship with her daughter.
The supermodel, 29, spoke to Vogue for a new cover story and shared more about her relationship with her 4-year-old daughter Khai, whom she shares with ex Zayn Malik, 32. As she pushes back against the “perfect image” of motherhood that some cultivate, Hadid says she’s learned from her daughter that just being herself is enough.
“For a lot of moms there’s this perfect image of what they’re supposed to be and how it needs to go,” says Hadid.
“We grow together. You wake up and do your best and you realize it is enough, and there’s a beauty in not necessarily knowing exactly how that’s going to go,” she continues of her and Khai. “I think that’s a huge lesson that I needed. And probably one of the reasons that Khai came to me.”
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“You can’t always be in control. You can’t always plan. You can look at an experience as the right or wrong time for anything, if that’s your perspective,” Hadid explains. “Now I just give myself the grace and look at how many things I’ve handled. Step by step, I learned. I got through it.”
In that same interview, Hadid gave a few rare comments about her co-parenting experience with her ex-boyfriend, saying that the two both “have each other’s backs” when it comes to taking care of their daughter.
“Zayn and I do our custody schedules months in advance,” Hadid told the outlet. “That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t change here and there, but we help each other out and have each other’s backs.”
Earlier this month, Hadid posted a photo dump highlighting Khai’s life in New York City as well as on the rural farm where the family lives in Pennsylvania. “Feeling very blessed always,” Hadid added to the carousel’s caption.
Khai seemed to be taking after her equestrian mother as she was pictured greeting three horses on what appeared to be the farm while wearing pink cowboy boots and a brown printed fleece jacket.
The mother-daughter duo also visited the American Museum of Natural History, where they marveled at the butterfly exhibit. Khai wore a white matching jacket and dress with bright red printed cherries and red pants for the trip, completing the look with white Converse sneakers.
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