NEW YORK — Model Gigi Hadid says time’s up for abuse in the fashion industry.
Before taking the runway at Jeremy Scott’s New York Fashion Week show Thursday, Hadid praised those bravely speaking out about mistreatment in the modeling world.
“I’m so happy that people are finding their power and the strength to be able to come out and be brave,” Hadid said. “It’s definitely putting priorities in the right place.”
And she offered this message to young models: “No job is ever worth being uncomfortable.”
“That’s something that my mom taught me. … She never sugarcoated that stuff for us. She just said, ‘If you’re ever uncomfortable, you know, no job is worth staying,”’ Hadid said of her mother, former model and “Real Housewife” Yolanda Hadid. “So I just want girls, girls coming into the industry to know that they have that power.”
Hadid opened Scott’s show in a metallic space-themed, skirt-overalls number with a hot pink wig and tights. Rapper Cardi B, singer Kehlani and “Empire” actress Serayah watched from the front row as she closed the show in a matching skirt and top set covered in colorful mosaic tiles.
“I was just thinking about all the different things I love and a lot of them were colour,” said Scott before the show. “And it’s a little bit cyber. It’s a little bit spacey. It’s a little bit of all the things you kind of come to expect from me: a little disco, a little party.”
Scott sourced inspiration from Popples, the colorful 1980s stuffed animals and cartoon, and Cicciolina, a Hungarian-Italian porn star and politician who often posed on red carpets with the popular plush toys.
“Mixing all these kinds of messages of seductress and kind of little kid play,” he explained.
His playful Popples had an edge — like a pink shirtdress featuring the cartoon creature with long, black straps looped around the back. Dark belts and buckles also crisscrossed neon sweaters and skirts.
Scott paid homage to the hot-pink velour tracksuit of the early 2000s, but added some belly-bearing sass.
Models wore matching bob-cut wigs in highlighter shades of orange, green, blue and yellow and donned sky-high moon boots in shiny silver, pink fur or laced up with bright straps.
“I’m very affected by the news. I’m very affected by the administration, daily barrages of horrible, hateful kind of things going on,” Scott said. “I think my role is even more defined in today’s time: to bring joy, to bring fun.”
Fun came in the form of futuristic, “The Jetsons”-style minidresses with hoops jutting out like planetary rings and Muppet-like tufts of bright fur on jet-black sweaters, coats and skirts.
“I always am looking forward to Jeremy’s shows,” said Hadid. “Just walk into the hair and makeup room and see what adventure we have in store.”