5 Bright and Beautiful Photos of Birthday Girl Gigi Hadid in Tahiti

Today, we’d like to wish three-time SI Swimsuit model Gigi Hadid a very happy birthday! The supermodel and television personality turns 31 today, Thursday, April 23, and in honor of her special day, we’re taking a quick trip down memory lane.

The Los Angeles native first posed for the magazine in 2014, with a photo shoot along the Jersey Shore with photographer Ben Watts. Hadid returned to the fold the following two years, traveling to Kauai, Hawai’i, and the Islands of Tahiti, where she worked with visual artist Yu Tsai on both occasions.

Though Hadid has not posed for the annual SI Swimsuit Issue in a decade, her feature on the island in French Polynesia is just as breathtaking today as it was back in 2016. While on set in Tahiti, the Guest in Residence founder, creative director and owner opened up to the crew about her passion for nailing the perfect shot.

“I’m really hard on myself,” Hadid said while on location with SI Swimsuit that year. “You only have a certain amount of time with the perfect light, and you only have a certain amount of time until the tide goes up and then you’re too deep in the water. I was like, ‘I have to get this right. I have to get this right or the moment is going to pass.’”

Unsurprisingly, Hadid nailed all of her poses while in Tahiti. Since then, she has landed covers of publications like Vogue, V Magazine, W, Elle, InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar and many others. Outside of her work in front of the lens, the proud mom of one is also an entrepreneur who launched her aforementioned clothing brand in September 2022.

At the time Guest in Residence launched, Hadid chatted with Elle about the meaning behind her brand. When it started nearly four years ago, the line began with a core collection of cashmere basics. Today, it has expanded to offer a range of clothing items for both women and men, from dresses and jumpsuits to cardigans and jackets.

“To me, a guest in residence is someone who can show up with a comfortability in themselves and who they are enough to wonder about the people in front of them and the world around them,” she told the outlet. “A lot of those people are my friends, my family, my loved ones, but also people I see in the street and people that you encounter in really quick moments that kind of bring a warmth to your day… Those are the kinds of people that I hope wear my clothes or how my clothes will make people feel.”

In honor of Hadid’s big day, and her continued success in front of the camera and beyond, we’re throwing it back to a few of our favorite SI Swimsuit photographs of the model from Tahiti.

Gigi Hadid was photographed by Yu Tsai on the Islands of Tahiti. Swimsuit by Maui Girl by Debbie Wilson. | Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Gigi Hadid was photographed by Yu Tsai on the Islands of Tahiti. Swimsuit by Ola Vida. | Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated