Kendall Jenner admits she felt "intimidated" by Gigi Hadid before they became friends.
Speaking in a new joint interview with Vogue, Jenner, 29, recalled first seeing Gigi, now 30, in a photo that went viral online years ago. “I remember I was intimidated by you. I was like: ‘She’s so gorgeous,’” Jenner said.
“You posted this black-and-white photo with your long blond mane that went viral on Tumblr … I had acne and braces and I remember seeing it and thinking: ‘What the f***?’”
The pair, who first met as teenagers through mutual friends and Gigi’s younger sister Bella Hadid, grew up in California but attended different schools.
Hadid replied that she was also an “awkward” teen at the time. Both recalled how their early encounters eventually turned into a lasting friendship when they entered the fashion industry at the same time and became supermodels.
Jenner described their bond as deeper than friendship, saying, “We’re sisters more than we’re friends.”
Meanwhile, Hadid added, “People don’t see a lot of the quiet moments or the ways we’re similar. We really find peace in each other.”
Hadid has also spoken previously about becoming more assertive in her career since launching her cashmere brand Guest In Residence in 2022, a shift she sensed from her initial “people-pleaser” tendency.