Gigi Hadid vows to donate fashion month earnings to Ukraine and Palestine

There seems to be no end in sight to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but scores of people around the world, including supermodel Gigi Hadid, are joining forces to help those in need during the crisis. 

The 26-year-old has pledged to donate every cent she makes during the Fall 2022 fashion shows to Ukraine and Palestine. Gigi was inspired by fellow model Mica Argañaraz.

"Having a set Fashion Month schedule has meant that my colleagues and I often present new fashion collections during heartbreaking and traumatic times in history. We don’t have control over most of our work schedules, but we would like to walk ‘for’ something.

"Following in the footsteps of my friend [Mica], I am pledging to donate my earnings from the Fall 2022 shows to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine," she wrote on Instagram.

According to Forbes, Gigi Hadid made a whopping $9.5-million (R146-million) in 2018. She has an estimated net worth of $29m.

Gigi was recently seen walking the runway at New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. The model says people must open their eyes and hearts to all human injustice. 

"May we all see each other as brothers and sisters, beyond politics, beyond race, beyond religion. At the the end of the day, innocent lives pay for war- not leaders. HANDS OFF UKRAINE. HANDS OFF PALESTINE. PEACE. PEACE. PEACE."

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Gigi's father is real estate developer Mohamed Hadid. Mohamed, who was born in Nazareth, often speaks out about the Israel-Palestine conflict. He revealed in an interview that his family fled Palestine in the 40s and became refugees in Syria before eventually moving to America. 

 Gigi's mother is former Dutch model, Yolanda Hadid. Gigi spoke about her Arab heritage in an interview with i-D magazine in 2021. 

"In certain situations, I feel – or I’m made to feel – that I’m too white to stand up for part of my Arab heritage. You go through life trying to figure out where you fit in racially," she told the publication. 

Since welcoming her daughter Khai with singer Zayn Malik in September 2020, Gigi has had more conversations about race. Zayn's father is Pakistani, while his mother has English and Irish heritage. 

Gigi hopes her daughter will be able to find her own identity without having to deal with outside pressures. 

"I think that Khai will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities. But I think that it will be nice to be able to have those conversations, and see where she comes from [with] it, without us putting that onto her. What comes from her is what I’m ."

Gigi's sister Bella Hadid and several other models, including Kaia Gerberand and Aylah Peterson, have also pledged to make donations to Ukrainian organisations.  

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Main image courtesy of Instagram/@gigihadid