Gigi Hadid Launches Clothing Brand, Guest In Residence, Love or Hate?
By Kathryn Sohm
We’ve seen our fair share of celebrities and supermodels alike venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, typically relying on their fanbase and sometimes infamous notability to hock their goods. Emily Ratajkowski sells her bathing suit brand, Inamorata, simply by posting an ab-baring photo. Rihanna has practically sold us everything we could ever need to feel like a bad bitch (other than a new album), and the Kardashians each have their own multi-million dollar empire.
The newest star to venture into the business world is model extraordinaire Gigi Hadid. On September 1st Hadid announced via Instagram the launch of her cashmere brand Guest in Residence (GIR), which dropped on September 7th. The new brand’s IG account quickly gained followers, featuring mostly Gigi posing in the knitwear with her signature beachy blonde waves.
The name Guest in Residence is inspired by Hadid’s conviction that we’re all guests on this planet and maybe even our bodies. GIR’s website is divided into Women, Men, and Accessories categories, which seems slightly off-kilter and like a missed opportunity to promote the genderless nature that knitwear often posseses.
The brand’s tagline is “future heirlooms,” as when designing, Hadid considered the full life cycle that these garments might possess. Hadid told Harper’s Bazaar: “I didn’t think of it as pieces that were bought and worn by one person, but like, how can these pieces be passed down?"
While the cashmere goods are classic staples and the poppy, punchy colors are a refreshing take on typically muted knits, one has to ask Miss Hadid why now? In an economy on the brink of recession, with a society eager to play dress-up in an almost post-COVID world, do we really need expensive loungewear right now? Yes, the baby softness of a 100% cashmere sweater merits a higher price, but I’m not convinced $245 for a gray sweater vest isn’t asking too much.
Such a price point hasn’t stopped outlets from praising Hadid’s so-called “budget cashmere,” with Forbes claiming the model is “disrupting the cashmere industry.” Other than offering unexpectedly modern colors like bubblegum and lime, I’m not so sure that GIR truly brings a fresh and more accessible take on cashmere. No matter how you spin it, any garment made solely from 100% cashmere is an inherently luxurious item that many shoppers cannot afford.
Will Hadid’s fame be enough to make Guest in Residence a success? Only time will tell.