DUBAI: The world’s fashion It-crowd took to social media this weekend to wish US-Palestinian model Gigi Hadid a happy birthday.
Hadid, who turned 26 on Friday, celebrated her birthday with her partner, British-Pakistani singer Zayn Malik, and their daughter Khai.
Although her celebrity friends couldn’t throw the catwalk star a model-worthy bash, they did take to Instagram in droves to share their best wishes.
Gigi’s younger sister Bella Hadid kickstarted the well wishes with a flurry of poignant posts on Instagram Stories, including throwback photos of the sisters as children.
“My favorite napping buddy for life,” she captioned one sweet shot of the sisters taking a snooze when they were children. “Thank you for protecting me since the womb,” she captioned another shot of Gigi cradling a newborn Bella.
Bella then passed the torch to models from around the world, who all shared throwback photos with Gigi and wished her a happy birthday.
From Russian model Irina Shayk to US stars Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and former Victoria’s Secret Angel Lily Aldridge, Hadid’s fans were out in full force and took to Instagram Stories to share touching messages.
“I think this was the day we fell in love… and I’m so grateful for it because you are such a sweet, kind, caring friend,” Aldridge shared on Instagram. Meanwhile, Ratajkowski paid tribute to Hadid’s role as a new mother, writing: “Happy (birthday) to this lovely person and fellow mama. Through my pregnancy and now with baby (Sylvester), your support and care packages have meant so much. I hope you’re surrounded by love today, you deserve it!”
Catwalk mainstays weren’t the only ones to celebrate Hadid on her big day, however. A clutch of leading designers also took to social media to laud the young star.
“Happy birthday, my Versace queen,” Donatella Versace wrote on Instagram, while Louis Vuitton's Virgil Abloh shared a snap of Hadid in a colorful ensemble, complete with a bevy of amusing Instagram stickers — including a dancing Elmo character from “Sesame Street” and exploding fireworks. 
To top it off, Gigi’s father, real estate tycoon Mohamed Hadid, took to Instagram to share little known facts about his famous daughter.
“She has the highest number of Vogue magazine covers worldwide, around 50,” Hadid wrote, adding “she was an accomplished equestrian, junior Olympic contender and (won) hundreds of first place and national championships… (she) still rides today.”
He also described Gigi as “self-made,” noting: “She never took a single dollar from her parents.”
