When Gerber’s not putting her comedy chops to the test alongside the greats, you’ll likely find her curled up somewhere with a good book. It’s not out of the norm for her to be rotating between three or four at a time—usually a memoir, a novel, a short story, or a poetry book. She is an enthusiastic consumer of literature, one who will happily ham it up with you about her latest book finds. Recent favorites include Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman, Lucky Dogs by Helen Schulman, and Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki.
“When people think of Kaia Gerber’s Instagram, [I don’t think] they expect to go on and basically see me only talking about books,” she says. Looking for a place to connect with others and start purposeful conversations, Gerber created her own online book club. Each month, she shares a new book with her 9.6 million followers, inviting either the author or a special guest to join her live. “I decided, Why not use this book club as a way to highlight authors and encourage people to read but also as a door or window into conversations that are really difficult to have?” she says. For this reason, she’s quite particular about the titles she chooses each month, basing it on the kind of dialogue she wants to spark. For August, Gerber hosted a live with author Alex Auder to discuss her memoir Don’t Call Me Home, a story that tackles being raised by a Warhol superstar and the intimate bonds of mother-daughter relationships. “I get to have these really incredible authors or people who just have so much insight into these topics. I am a very curious person in my life, and I think it lives in my book club as well,” she adds.
So where does modelling fit into all this? It’s obvious Gerber is leaning more into acting these days, but she is quick to clarify it’s not one or the other. The two can live harmoniously in her life. For the moment, she’s enjoying being more selective with the fashion projects she commits to. “I have fun doing it now because I get to come in and do really special, meaningful things with people that I have really deep, wonderful relationships with,” she says. The Valentino Haute Couture show is one example. Working with longtime friend Hedi Slimane as the face of Celine is another. “I love working with Celine because I really feel like it’s the coolest version of myself, and it’s not at all how cool I am in real life,” she says. Even her fashion choices on the red carpet, for which she collaborates with stylist Danielle Goldberg, are meticulously selected and have intent behind them.