From Bella Hadid to Sasha Obama, 2016 Was the Year Little Sisters Outshone Big Sisters
As the end of 2016 approaches, we at Yahoo Style are shining a light on the biggest fashion moments of the year. This includes everything from the biggest stories — like Melania Trump making a pussy-bow blouse her go-to style for the final presidential debates — to what this year’s style icons like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid made their biggest splashes in. Look back with us on a 2016 that was full of unexpected moments but remained stylish throughout.
Little sisters may complain about hand-me-down clothes and shared car privileges, but they also get a built-in mentor from day one — and for wannabe starlets, that can make all the difference. From Bella Hadid (little sister of Gigi) to Mackenzie Ziegler (little sister of Maddie), here are eight younger siblings who took the spotlight for themselves in 2016.
Kylie Jenner
What hasn’t been said about Kylie Jenner? The youngest Kardashian sister has been called everything from #QWEEN to #BUSTED, and that’s just by her millions of Instagram fans. But we’ll add a new label to the 19-year-old fameball: #MOGUL. That’s because between Snapchatting with Tyga and hair-masking with Kim, Kylie Jenner created a cosmetics company that made the infamous (and very good) Kylie Lip Kits, which created a matte lip fever via social media that spread to red carpets and high-school hallways alike. For her efforts, Kylie’s brand is poised to net over $8 million in sales this year, according to Vanity Fair. The makeup comes in addition to her joint ventures with Kendall, including two clothing lines (one for Pac Sun, another sold at Nordstrom and Shopbop), a series of young adult novels about aliens in Hollywood (really), and campaigns for brands like Balmain. In September, she booked a coveted spot in Alexander Wang’s fall ads, alongside Zoe Kravitz and Tinashe. (Pro tip: If you can’t afford the designer clothes and can’t get your hands on the always-sold-out lip kits, Kylie recommends buying fuzzy robes for your family this Christmas instead.)
Bella Hadid
We first saw Bella Hadid on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where her big sister, Gigi, posed for Guess while her mom — ’80s model Yolanda Foster — did the reality TV thing. At the time, the Hollywood native was more interested in horses than haute couture … but Gigi’s ascension to supermodel status made the brunette bombshell a hot commodity in the fashion world, and she signed with IMG Models in 2014.
After early appearances in Teen Vogue and CR Fashion Book, the 20-year-old model conquered catwalks for Versace, Marc Jacobs, and Fendi this year, all while dodging paparazzi with childhood besties like Kendall Jenner. Among the 28 (!!!) magazine covers she graced this year were holy grails like Vogue Paris and ELLE, and her recent NSFW (read: blond wig, bare breasts) appearance in Paper solidified her presence as both a fashion mainstay and a teen-boy pinup.
This month, Bella scored the ultimate fame point — becoming an Internet meme — when she walked past her ex (pop star the Weeknd) at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Revenge looks good in designer lingerie, no?
Elle Fanning
After her breakthrough performance in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, teen actress Elle Fanning told The New York Times, “Everyone says [big sister] Dakota’s Meryl Streep, and I’m Marilyn Monroe.” But though she’s certainly blond and gorgeous, Fanning’s career looks like it might take a darker turn than Monroe’s, at least onscreen. This season, she stars in two pieces of Oscar bait — Night Lives, directed by Ben Affleck, and 20th Century Women, with Annette Bening — and has seven more films slated for 2017. Not among them: any with the elder Fanning. “We never even discuss films with each other,” she tells The Inquirer. “We decide [separately] on which films we want to do. We never read each other’s scripts. That’s off-limits.”
Sasha Obama
This is why we fell in love with 15-year-old Sasha Obama this year:
While her big sister, Malia, interned for HBO’s Girls, she took a way less glamorous job behind the cash register at a Martha’s Vineyard seafood shack and still got hounded by paparazzi.
She managed to get in a few seconds of flirting with Mr. Blake Lively, aka Ryan Reynolds, before she got busted by the official White House photographer.
As President Obama attempted to give a modern history lesson at the family dinner table, Sasha secretly trolled him on Snapchat for friends and family.
She’s not afraid to be so over it … even if she’s wearing the best dress in the room.
Sofia Richie
When we spoke with Richie at Dolce & Gabbana’s fall fashion show, the 18-year-old blonde told us she hates working out and loves carbs (#same). And yet, the spaghetti addict appears in this month’s Complex magazine wearing a nude bikini and draped, Britney-style, with a massive live snake. Earlier this year, Richie — whose dad is Lionel and whose big sister is the fashion maven and former reality TV princess Nicole — gained Internet notoriety for being Justin Bieber’s underage girlfriend. She attended Rihanna’s FENTY x Puma debut, modeled for ASOS, and even appeared in family friend Kanye West’s latest Yeezy show. On Monday, she walked in Chanel’s pre-fall 2017 show in Paris. She’s also emerged as a Gen Z figure for tolerance and diversity, telling Complex she hears racist comments from those who don’t realize she’s a young woman of color. Her response: “It’s 2016 — you’d better get your shit together.” Amen.
Mackenzie Ziegler
While her big sister Maddie stars in Sia’s award-winning performances, this 12-year-old dancer boasts nearly 100 million views on her eponymous YouTube channel. (A recent video of her nighttime skincare routine has almost 3 million views alone. Seriously.) And while her big sister prepares for her first movie role — The Book of Henry, with Naomi Watts — Mackenzie has stuck to song and dance, premiering a new pop song on Teen Vogue’s website and appearing on So You Think You Can Dance. This month, she was named the newest ambassador for Turn Board, a ballet training tool used in dance schools worldwide.
Mackinley Hill
“I love working with my little sister,” model Taylor Hill told us backstage at the Topshop fashion show in London this fall. “I wish she could come with me everywhere.” The 20-year-old Victoria’s Secret model might soon get her wish, as the next generation — aka Mackinley Hill — recently signed with IMG models and scored a Vogue photo feature and a Burton snowboarding shoot. When not in New York for work, the younger Hill still lives at home in Colorado, where she campaigns via Instagram for National McDonald’s Throwback Day, which frankly sounds awesome.
Serena Williams
Yes, the tennis superstar has been in the spotlight for a while now, but we still celebrate Serena Williams — little sister of Venus — because in 2016, this powerful athlete campaigned for gender equality, admitted to Vogue that Drake is the funniest guy in the world, sat front row at Versace’s October catwalk in Milan, launched a new HSN line at New York Fashion Week, and won Wimbleton!
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