Revealed: Tommy Hilfiger's team put Gigi Hadid in a big poncho for first show because she wasn't as 'tall and thin' as other catwalk modelsÂ
- Hilfiger's casting director said her figure didn't 'fit' with the other models
- She ended up wearing the poncho that covered up most of her body
- But it received millions of hits, and led to her deal with the famous brandÂ
- Hilfiger later released a statement saying she is 'truly the definition of a Tommy Girl' Â
Last month she traveled the world promoting her collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, Tommy x Gigi.
But Gigi Hadid didn't always fit in with the fashion label's image.
The 65-year-old designer revealed his team were concerned she was too big to model normal clothes on their catwalk last year, so they hid her under a huge poncho.
'Our casting director said: 'She doesn't really fit because you know she's not quite as tall as the other girls, she's not quite as thin,'' Hilfiger told Yahoo Style's Joe Zee.
She ultimately walked the runway at New York Fashion Week in 2015 in a red, white and blue ensemble.Â
Cover up: Gigi Hadid wore an over-sized poncho in her first Tommy Hilfiger show in 2015 because she wasn't 'as tall or thin' as they other models
Hilfiger, 65, Â revealed his team were concerned she was too big to model normal clothes on their catwalk last year,
'It covered a lot of her body unfortunately, but it received millions of hits,' Hilfiger added.Â
In fact, it received so many hits that it inspired the designer to reach out and offer Gigi a collaboration with the brand.
'So I said, you know, why don't we ask her to design a line with us - Gigi, come design this with me, we'll do a Gigi x Tommy couture line ,' Hilfiger shared.
The star, whose father is multi-millionaire property developer Mohamed Hadid and whose mother is former RHOBH reality star Yolanda, Â then traveled to Dubai, Tokyo, and Shanghai to promote the line, for which many of the pieces have sold out.
Moving forward: Though she was deemed 'not thin enough' to show skin in February, by September Gigi was leading the way as she sported a tiny, crochet bikini in Tommy Hilfiger's Spring/Summer 2016 show
And despite the hitch during the first show, Hilfiger described Gigi as: 'All-American girl next door with an exotic twist to her look.'Â
Of course, while Gigi was 'not thin enough' to show skin on the runway in February, it was a different story come September.
The star was later seen leading models down a beach-inspired runway in a tiny, crochet bikini in Hilfiger's Spring/Summer 2016 show.
Hilfiger released a statement on Thursday after his interview with Yahoo was published.Â
It read: 'Gigi is truly the definition of a 'Tommy Girl' – her magnetic personality is bright, confident and always optimistic. I've known her for many years, and am extremely proud to have her as the ambassador of my brand and as a collaborator of our collections. Any statement to the contrary is completely false. The headline from the interview with Yahoo was misleading and has since been corrected.'
They make a good team! After Gigi's poncho shot garnered millions of hits, Tommy suggested they collaborate on a clothing line, which has been quite the success, with many pieces selling out
Meanwhile, Gigi was also noticeably covered up in the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
The blonde beauty wore a large, fireman's suit as she walked the runway in a red Victoria's Secret PINK sports bra, while the other models showed off their toned pins in tiny underwear.Â
Gigi announced last week that she would be returning to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year, posting: 'See you in Paris!'Â
The VS Fashion Show 2016 will air on CBS on Monday, December 5, at 10 pm ET.Â
Just a coincidence? Gigi was also covered up for the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, for which she will be returning in 2016
Back in August, Gigi shared with Daily Mail Australia that she used to cry at night when she started out modeling because no-one would take her on.
'When I first went to visit different agencies in New York, a lot of them were like, you have to lose a lot of weight,' she said. Â
Eventually she did sign to IMG Models but still had to battle to overcome fashion industry expectations of what a model should look like, she said.
Too chubby: In August, Gigi revealed that she used to cry at night because she couldn't find an agency to take her on when she started out because she wasn't thin enough. She's pictured Wednesday in NYC
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'I'm kind of the model that everyone thought would always be the Guess, Sports Illustrated girl, then when I started to do high fashion stuff... people were like, 'Oh so we can have a girl with like thighs and a butt in a Tom Ford campaign, cool',' she explained.
'And then all of a sudden the high fashion people wanted to work with me and that's kind of how it works, if you just embrace yourself other people accept you in the same way.
She also responded to a body shaming troll in August who'd called her out on Instagram for losing too much weight as she launched her modeling career.
'It's called growing up,' she retorted, adding she had just lost some 'baby fat.'
'I still eat what I want, I'm still strong, and I'm still healthy,' she added
Skinnier model: The 21-year-old, pictured on the Paris catwalk last month, has since lost weight but insists she simply shed some 'baby fat' and she still eats what she wants
Â
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