Gigi Hadid Shares Rare Pics of Her Daughter Khai Enjoying the Beach

On Friday, January 20, Gigi Hadid shared a rare photo of her daughter Khai while on a beautiful beach vacation together. In the pics, the super model is wearing a red string bikini under floral board shorts in blue and red, with the waist band rolled up around her hips. In the first photo, she has written “Mama Hearts Khai” in the sand and is kneeling next to the words and admiring her work.

In the second black-and-white photo, Hadid’s back can be seen and she is carrying Khai on her shoulders. In the third photo, only Khai’s arm and shadow is visible as her smiling mom follows her up from the waves.

“Celebrated the new year w a lil r&r,” Hadid captioned the carousel on Instagram.

Hadid shares her two-year-old daughter with former partner Zayn Malik, and the whole family respects their rules about not sharing Khai’s face on the Internet. In a previous Instagram Story, Hadid wrote, “Our wish is that she can choose how to share herself with the world when she comes of age, and that she can live as normal of a childhood as possible, without worrying about a public image that she has not chosen.”

Fans mostly only get these little glimpses of Khai growing up, and what Hadid says about her in interviews. While discussing motherhood with Willie Geist on Sunday Today, Hadid gushed about her daughter’s rapid development.

“I think she’s a genius,” she said. “But I think that’s what everyone says about their kid. It’s so much fun. The more that she talks, and understands, and remembers, it just gets more and more fun. And she’s a blessing.”

She added that her daughter is already quite adventurous, saying, “[She’s] so mobile . . . jumping off things — very brave, which is great, but you know. We’re practicing doing dangerous things carefully.”

Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.