Gigi Hadid is channeling her inner kid to get in the holiday spirit this year. The supermodel is no stranger to design collaborations, but her latest ventures off the runway and into the toy realm for the reopening of New York’s iconic FAO Schwarz.
Making for an unexpected collaboration, the famed toy store tapped Hadid to design new uniforms for the toy soldiers at its soon-to-be-opened New York flagship. Last night, the model (dressed in an equally playful Moschino suit) unveiled her designs at a FAO Schwarz event and later on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
“They’ve never had someone come in and design the toy soldier uniforms,” Hadid gushed to BAZAAR.com ahead of the event, “So the soldiers who greet the kids at the door and are the heart and soul of FAO Schwarz will be wearing my designs. It’s really cool because I grew up loving FAO Schwarz.”
“I had one of the giant plush giraffe toys in my room,” she recalled excitedly, “I remember going to the store as a kid and just running around, touching everything, and taking it all in. I think it’s really important to have a place for kids to go experience the fun of toys and discovery.”
Hadid’s newly-designed uniforms feature red double-breasted jackets with gold epaulettes covering the shoulders and a tall hat with gold detailing—including some mini FAO building blocks. On Instagram, she shared a behind-the-scenes look at some of her sketches for the project.
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My inner child has been bursting with excitement and pride to be part of an ICONIC revival in #NYC : #ReturnToWonder ‼️‼️ Tune in to @fallontonight Tuesday night 10/23 as my friend @jimmyfallon helps me reveal a surprise @FAOSchwarz and I have been dying to share ❤️🗽🎊🎖😁
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Proving she’s still a kid at heart, Gigi later danced on a replica of FAO Schwarz’s famous giant piano and hugged a giant stuffed animal giraffe, similar to the one she owned growing up. For the occasion, she even got an FAO-themed manicure that paid homage to the same giraffe.
With the holidays quickly approaching, she also reflected on some of the Hadid family’s favorite Christmas traditions—making us all want to get in the spirit early this year. As usual, she’s planning on spending the holidays at her family’s farm house.
“Holidays are always just with the family. We love going to the farm and we do a lot of cooking, hanging out, fire pits, and movie nights—stuff like that. It’s just a very calm time to be together and do fun things,” she revealed. “We all cook something different on Christmas. I’m usually on pie duty, so I make like five different kinds of pies, but I always like to do something fun and random. One year I made Santa’s Sleigh out of candy and cupcakes, I love creative projects like that.”
As for gifts, she’s not exactly sure what she’s giving everyone this year, but for her, personal gifts are the most important. “I love writing notes for the holidays. I do it for my family and also for everyone that I work with, I always send notes,” she explained.
In fact, all of the Hadids like to participate in writing thoughtful letters to each other on the holidays. “It’s so funny because Christmas morning is not cute for us because we’re crying over everyone’s really long notes. We’re always like ‘I’ll read them later!! Don’t show me your note!!!” because we’ll all cry. It’s like ‘let’s open presents first and then we’ll read them alone in our rooms by ourselves,'” she laughed.
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❤️We may not have it all together but together we have it all…… Merry Christmas from our family to yours, may your home be filled with love and light during this Holliday season #Christmas2017 #HomeSweetHome #FamilyTime
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The new FAO Schwarz is set to open at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC on November 16.
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