Kaia Gerber Was “Starstruck” by Her Mom Cindy Crawford After ‘The Supermodels’

"I knew you were iconic, but I didn’t understand."

Photo:

Lachlan Bailey for WSJ. Magazine

Kaia Gerber always knew that she had a famous mom, but it wasn't until last year's AppleTV docu-series, The Supermodels, that she realized just how famous Cindy Crawford really is. In a new interview with WSJ. Magazine, the model, actress, and book club president explained that after watching the show, she was "starstruck" by her own mother and, well, same. Of course, Gerber has followed in her mom's famous footsteps but is also forging her own career that's gone beyond being a model to becoming a Gen Z icon.

"I was starstruck in front of her after," Gerber said of seeing her mother in action during the docu-series. "I was like, ‘I didn’t realize. I knew you were iconic, but ...’ I didn’t understand when I was younger. What she made of her career, there wasn’t really someone’s footsteps to follow. And I thought it was so cool that she always had that ambition, and she did things where people told her, ‘This will ruin your career. Don’t do this.’ And she trusted her instincts.”

Gerber also addressed the nepo baby conversation that's been in the ether. It's easy to box her into being a famous face with some very famous parents, but she insists that her parents never pushed her to do anything she didn't want to do. She even explained that Crawford and Rande Gerber made their kids' lives as normal as possible, paparazzi and all.

“They never, ever let it dictate what they did or didn’t do. It never controlled our life,” she added. “As a kid, if I wanted to go pick out a Christmas tree, we’re going to pick out a Christmas tree. And maybe there would be paparazzi pictures. But my parents would never be like, ‘Oh, no, I don’t want to do that.’”

Kaia Gerber WSJ. Magazine

Lachlan Bailey for WSJ. Magazine.

Kaia Gerber WSJ. Magazine 2024

Lachlan Bailey for WSJ. Magazine

Gerber says that she's glad she has parents who can offer her some career advice, from modeling tips from Cindy to business direction from her dad, Randy Gerber.

“I can actually ask my parents advice on career things, on business things,” Gerber said. “That’s very rare to have parents who are in the same industry or career as you, whose advice you actually can trust.”

But Gerber also admitted that the idea of nepo babies won't be fading from the public's consciousness anytime soon. So, she's accepted that she'll always be associated with her mom and dad and grouped into a cadre of nepo babies like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber.

“I don’t think it’s a topic that will go away, so I’ve clearly reached a point of acceptance,” she added. “I personally am very aware of all the wonderful things it has done for me, and I would never, ever say anything negative about it because that is my truth about it.”

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