Gigi Hadid's New Shoes Will Help You Ward Off Evil
I'm worried that Gigi Hadid doesn't sleep. Posing for countless magazine covers, designing clothing lines, launching beauty brands, walking in fashion shows, maintaining one of the most adorable celeb relationships, big-sistering Bella and Anwar, making Yolanda a #proudmummy, boxing, horseback riding, volleyballing, funding the building of schools in third world countries-let's just say Wonder Woman better watch her back. Gigi is coming for her and she's working around the clock.
As if she didn't have enough on her plate (and just in time for the holiday season!) Hadid and Stuart Weitzman have collaborated again to create two exclusive footwear styles, the Eyelove and the Eyelovemore. Different from the boxing-style Gigi boot of their last collaboration, this new shoe is a pointed-toe mule with the mystical symbol of the evil eye.
Ahead, Gigi talks what inspired the evil eye design, why partnering with meaningful organizations is important, the problem with Zayn's style, and how sister Bella Hadid, is a part-time model, part-time thief.
What was your vision for this shoe?
It's really easy to walk into the Stuart Weitzman office, go straight to the most sparkly, the most major, crazy shoe you can find and be like, 'Oh I want to put my name on that.' But I wanted to do something that people could look at and really know that it came from me and it's something that I would wear. Also, it needed to be something you can wear every day. When you buy the shoe, you're putting your money towards something that will help build a school, which is amazing and something you can think about every time you put them on. It's also something you can wear a lot and not just one time with a fancy dress or something.
You said that it's based on the Evil Eye. What does the Evil Eye mean to you?
It's something that has always been part of my life. My dad's Palestinian and that's something that is not only a part of his culture, but a lot of different cultures around the world use it in different ways. It can be drawn different ways and hold different meanings but essentially it's about protecting oneself from bad energy. I think that's a great thing to spread around the world on a shoe-not only in a spiritual way but mentally. It's a great reminder to not let bad energy effect you and your day, so it's very empowering to put on. I had the evil eye on my key chain when I first started driving, I have one above my bed now.
The Eyelove and the Eyelovemore comes in a gray, orange, and blue. Which one would be the Gigi, the Bella, the Yolanda, the Anwar?
Well for my mom the Eyelove in orange because her country colour is orange. She's always in orange so she would definitely love those. Bella's favorite colour is red and she's always wearing black, gray, white, and red, so I think the gray Eyelovemore would go really well. Blue's always been my color and the evil eye above my bed is blue and all the evil eyes I've worn my whole life are blue, so I guess that's the Gigi (pointing to the Eyelove in blue). Anwar would wear all of them.
Zayn?
Ooh. Hm. Maybe the navy, because I don't know. He could rock all of them. That's the problem with him, he could look good in anything and just make awesome outfits come out of nowhere.
Do you think Bella will steal these?
She'll probably steal them first and then I'll say, 'Give me mine back and I'll send you some.' She is always supportive of me which is so nice. But yeah, stealing is her main go-to way of getting stuff. Just coming over to my house and taking.
You've been very successful designing clothing, but how does designing footwear differ?
Well I'm really lucky to work with Stuart Weitzman, because I think the hardest thing about footwear would be to make comfortable shoes that actually makes sense for people. Stuart, he's a genius first of all, but he really works on mathematical equations on how to make a shoe fit a foot. He makes a shoe people will actually like to wear. The hard part's kind of done for me. I get to do the fun part. It was very arts and crafty, like just grabbing a bunch of different fabrics and picking the stitching and the eyes. The eyes on the shoe are replicas of each piece that I cut that day and glued together.
You're partnering with Pencils of Promise again. What does the organization mean to you?
It's great because all of the money directly effects the people you want it to. So far we have one school in Ghana, one in Guatemala, and one in Laos and three more will be built in the same countries and obviously in new places that need the educational support. It's amazing just to see the photos, the actual name of the school and think about that. One school has 700 kids, one has 900, so it's really helping a lot of kids. It's awesome and the craziest thing to see, 'Made possible by the Gigi boot.'
