As fall marks the season of sharpened pencils, fresh notebooks, and packed lunchboxes, Gigi Hadid is proving that the little details matter when it comes to raising a confident, successful child. The 30-year-old supermodel recently shared a glimpse into 4-year-old Khai’s first day back at school, and it’s the kind of heartfelt parenting move that makes you smile.
On September 4, Gigi gave fans a peek into Khai’s school day prep via Instagram Stories. Inside her daughter’s bright pink lunchbox was the perfect balance of nourishment and fun, featuring a crustless sandwich, apple slices, carrots, and a few sprinkle cookies for dessert. But the true star was the handwritten note Gigi tucked inside.
“Happy first day back 2 school! So proud of you,” the note read, signed simply with a heart and “Mama.” That small gesture is a reminder for Khai that no matter what her day holds, she’s got her biggest cheerleader rooting for her.
Music in Her DNA
While Khai is off mastering school routines, she’s also showing signs of a talent that runs deep in her family. With Zayn Malik as her father, it’s no surprise she is interested in music. The star revealed earlier this year that his daughter already has a natural sense of rhythm.
“She’s not expert-level, but she’s got a bit of rhythm when she’s hitting the drums and stuff,” Zayn told "The Zach Sang Show" in May 2024. “You can tell that she could definitely develop that into something.” But Zayn thinks some of that rhythm might actually come from Gigi herself. As he playfully admitted, she once beat him at Guitar Hero’s drum mode. “I was diabolical at it and G used to beat me all the time. I’m the musician and she beat me at this game!”
A Rising Star in the Making
If rhythm came from mom, vocals might just be dad’s gift to Khai. Zayn couldn’t help but gush over his daughter’s surprising vocal abilities. “She knows whole songs, word for word. She sings them fully, and she doesn’t miss a lyric,” he shared. Even more impressively, Khai can already run through multiple notes in one breath like a pro. “She’s crazy,” Zayn admitted with pride. “She can run stuff too, like little trills—three, four notes in one take.”
Raising Her Away from The Spotlight
In 2024, Zayn Malik, who tends to keep his personal life to himself, discussed details of his daughter Khai with the press, sharing small tidbits of their life. According to the British singer, he decided to raise his and Gigi Hadid’s daughter away from the spotlight. The former One Direction singer told L’Oficiel that he spends most of his time at home in rural Pennsylvania. “I’m quite an outdoorsy person—I did fall in love with the landscapes and serenity,” he said of the place.
“You get a lot of time to really think about things. And when I found out that my partner at the time was pregnant, I pretty quickly made up my mind that this would be a great place to raise a child because there's so much for her to do here,” he said. “So, we do spend a lot of time outside. We do the gardening. She likes to camp with me. We cook outside. We fish a little bit. And she’s really into it, too, so it makes it fun.”
Malik also shared that Khai is beginning to understand that he’s a performer. “She doesn’t come to the studio, but she’s starting to understand that Baba sings and Baba does music. She asks everybody, whenever there’s a song on the radio, ‘Is my Baba singing?’ But in front of me, she kind of gets shy about it,” he said.
Hadid’s Opinion
Gigi Hadid has also discussed why she prefers to keep Khai away from the spotlight. In a post shared in July 2021, she asked the press and various fan accounts to blur her daughter’s face.
"As our baby grows up we have to realize that we can't protect her from everything the way we wanted to and could when she was smaller," she wrote in an Instagram story. "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. It would mean the world to us, as we take our daughter to see and explore NYC and the world, if you would PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE blur her face out of the images, if and when she is caught on camera."