Gigi Hadid Talks Hobbies, Chairs, and Cheese With Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, and More
If you’re currently practicing social distancing but aren’t sure what to do with your time, Gigi Hadid has got some ideas. The supermodel is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar’s April issue, and all of her favorite hobbies she talks about in the interview just so happen to be things one could put into practice while self-quarantining.
Gigi’s famous friends, including Taylor Swift and Kendall Jenner, interviewed her for the magazine, and Kendall asked her pal about life on the farm. Gigi shared that her family's farm in Pennsylvania helps her enjoy simple pleasures. “It’s allowed me to fill my days off with the little things that make me happy, like art, gardening, yoga, cooking, being outside, and spending time with my loved ones and animals without having to worry about things like what I’m wearing or how my hair looks, or being photographed or seen that day,” the model shared.
While she’s out there, Gigi revealed she is also practicing a surprising hobby: building chairs. (Yes, you read that right.) “I find it fun to try something new and see if I can pull it off. It’s liberating to just create without the end goal of it being necessary to finish. The chair idea came from that,” she told Blake Lively. “I wanted to see if I could build a wood frame first and then pour resin into it and make a clear chair. I built the wood part and then through the next step learned that you can only dry resin in small layers, and the more layers I added, the more it was clear that I didn’t make my frame tightly sealed enough. Failed miserably. I ended up giving up on the big one and made a small-scale version, which worked a lot better!” Is there anything Gigi can’t do?
It seems as though Gigi’s farm is a major place of inspiration and relaxation. Gigi’s friend, Off-White designer Virgil Abloh, upped the stakes with his question. “Let’s pretend you’re hosting an arts-and-crafts festival at your farm: (a) What activities are on the festival schedule? And (b) for snacks, what eight items does the cheese board for guests include?”
Gigi has her answer down pat, and if this proverbial festival were to actually happen, we’d be there in a second. She answers that she’d host everything from cake decorating and bouquet making to poetry workshops and Rice Krispies art, plus ceramics. It sounds like a perfect event, and Gigi, please make this a real thing once it's safe to gather in large groups again.
As for that cheese plate, Gigi’s got us covered for a night in with her recommendation. Her spread includes a “French baguette; Dutch Gouda; Prairie Breeze cheddar; Brie; truffle honey, quince paste, or fig spread; tomato-mozzarella-basil skewers; meat paired with cheese (I’d ask a cheese expert at a shop—my favorite is Murray’s Cheese in New York); and Castelvetrano olives.”
While building full-on chairs may be a bit difficult in small apartments or bedrooms, Gigi’s hobbies are giving us some great ways to pass this time creatively. And coincidentally, Taylor Swift asked Gigi about her ability to "fly into action" when experiencing stressful situations. Her answer?
"I’ve realized over time that I feel the most free when I express myself, whether through action, writing, or talking it out," she told Harper's Bazaar. "Being honest always leads to something good, even if it takes a hard or awkward moment or conversation to get there; you can never go wrong with telling someone how you feel and speaking your truth. And you always learn something from it."
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