Gigi Hadid has spoken out about shooting a Vogue magazine cover just 10 weeks after giving birth.
Over the span of four years, Gigi has made 35 appearances on international Vogue magazine covers, but this one was different, taking place less than three months after she welcomed daughter Khai in September.
In an empowering message, the 25-year-old supermodel said she wasn't fazed about covering America's fashion bible as although she knew her body had changed with pregnancy, she embraced her new shape, telling any critics to go and 'suck it'.
She told Vogue: 'I know that I'm not as small as I was before, but I also am a very realistic thinker. I straight up was like, "Yeah, I'll shoot a Vogue cover, but I'm obviously not going to be a size 0"'.
She added: 'Nor do I, at this point, feel like I need to be back to that. I also think it's a blessing of this time in fashion that anyone who says that I have to be that can suck it.'
Gigi welcomed her baby daughter on September 23 and discussed her 'crazy' home birth in extraordinary detail for the first time in a candid interview for the magazine.
The cover girl revealed she welcomed her first child at her family ranch in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on September 20 with boyfriend Zayn Malik, her mother, Yolanda; her sister, Bella; and a local midwife and her assistant by her side.
Admitting that she looked 'crazy' during labour, Gigi described her experience by stating, 'I was an animal woman'.
Gigi also revealed that Zayn caught their newborn when she delivered Khai at home following a 14 hour labour.
She said of labour: 'I had to dig deep. I knew it was going to be the craziest pain in my life, but you have to surrender to it and be like, "This is what it is". I loved that.'
Motherhood has also had an impact on her career choices as 'I'm veering toward things that feel more stable than being in a different country every week.'
Last September 23 Gigi welcomed her baby daughter Khai by her on-again boyfriend Zayn Malik of One Direction fame.
However they waited for four months before publicly disclosing her name, and Gigi also told Vogue about her emphasis on keeping the baby's life under wraps.
Although Gigi's modelling career began at the age of two when she was began shooting with Baby Guess, her childhood was kept largely out of the spotlight.
This is something both Gigi and Zayn want for their daughter, with the blonde bombshell explaining that she wants to protect her child's privacy.
She consulted with some of her famous friends on the issue - citing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds - who have three daughters called James, Inez and Betty - as the type of parents she wishes to emulate.
Blake gave birth to Betty in 2019 but the baby's name only went public the following year after Taylor Swift named a song after her.
'I have friends who are public figures and that's how they've gone about it, and I see their kids really blossom in a different way,' Gigi dished.
Meanwhile, Blake told the magazine that she and Gigi began speaking about the matter months ago, with Blake advising the star to do whatever she feels is right, noting that while she may be open on social media, it is up to her the 'boundaries' she wishes to set.
Having moved to her family's ranch amid the pandemic, Gigi has kept her social media activity to a minimum, but does often treat her fans to glimpses at her life as a new mother.
Although Gigi gave birth in September, she chose to keep her daughter's name private until last month, when she quietly changed her Instagram bio to read, 'Khai's mom'.
The internet was lit up with speculation the newborn had been named Dorothea, after her friend Taylor Swift released a song of the same name back in December.
The name does, however, bear a resemblance to Gigi's sister Bella Hadid's middle name, Khair.
Fans have also suggested the name is a nod to the Arabic roots in both of their families.
According to some speculators, the name Khai reportedly means 'crowned' in Arabic, which would fit nicely with Zayn's surname which means 'King'.
Gigi and Zayn were first linked in November 2015 after she split from Joe Jonas; by January 2016, Gigi donned a Z necklace to Paris Fashion Week and had him as her phone background, although Zayn said they were 'good friends.'
That same month, Gigi starred in his Pillowtalk music video, which had several steamy moments between the two.
The couple covered Vogue in April 2016 for a love filled shoot and one month later, they attend the Met Gala together.
Gigi and Zayn split in March 2018 but one month later, they were seen kissing in New York City.
By January 2019 they split again but were back together by December 2019; the couple confirmed their romance again in February 2020. She shared a throwback snap of Zayn at the Hadid family farm in December 2019.
By April 28, 2020, Gigi was rumored to be pregnant, which she confirmed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
