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Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; Nanga Awasum/Twitter
Gigi Hadid is using her platform to lift up a fellow model.
On Thursday, the 26-year-old star posted a picture on her Instagram Story showing the back of model Nanga Awasum. “Shoutout to my NYC inspiration of the day: this queen,” Hadid wrote, adding that she “was too [drool emoji] to get a pic of the front, but she was major.”
© Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; Nanga Awasum/Twitter
Gigi Hadid called Nanga Awasum her “NYC inspiration of the day” after spotting her on the street
Awasum, 23, took note of Hadid’s post and shared a full picture of her outfit on her own Twitter account, playfully expressing some regret that she hadn’t turned around to face Hadid’s camera.
“It’s the way @GiGiHadid would have changed my entire life if I was only facing the right way,” she wrote in a message that got over 300 thousand “likes.”
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Hadid then retweeted Awasum, writing, “You were facing the right way exactly where you were headed. Sunshine! Sending biiiiig love Nanga!”
“I am not too cool for this. I am losing it,” Awasum added in a follow up Tweet, later writing, “My life completely changed overnight.”
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You were facing the right way exactly where you were headed. Sunshine! Sending biiiiig love Nanga ! https://t.co/Eh75E0eL0p
— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) July 15, 2021
My life completely changed overnight
— nänga. |IG:@nangs.online (@seIfiedump) July 16, 2021
Later, she posted her look and Hadid’s initial Story on her own Instagram feed. “This outfit doesn’t even know it’s impact,” she wrote. “Gigi doesn’t even know her impact.”
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In an interview with E! News on Friday, Awasum said that Hadid’s posts have led to her book more modeling gigs than ever — and have also increased interest from agencies looking to represent her.
“I’ve been told I was ugly, I’ve been turned down by so many agencies, I’ve been turned down by so many jobs and just to have someone like her see me and tell me that I was pretty and tell me I was major, it changed the trajectory of my month,” she told the outlet. “After this, anything can happen.”
She also revealed that the outfit she wore that day wasn’t her first choice.
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“I woke up that morning and I threw on this outfit and I really, really didn’t like the outfit at all, but I had 30 minutes to get to work and I had to get on set,” she said. “I was like, God, I hate it but I have no more time and I just ran out of the house.”
It wasn’t until she stopped by Zara to purchase a new outfit and was approached by two girls who recognized her that she realized she was on the supermodel’s Instagram. “I’m blank staring at them because the words just aren’t processing,” she added.
