Cindy Crawford Says Daughter Kaia Gerber Has 'Good Head on Her Shoulders' for Fame (Exclusive)

Kaia Gerber is following in the footsteps of her famous mom in more ways than one.

On Saturday at the 6th annual Best Buddies charity event, Cindy Crawford opened up to PEOPLE about how Kaia, 21, is juggling her surging career and private life in much the same way she did as a '90s supermodel.

"I think that she kind of sees how my husband [Rande Gerber] and I have dealt with it throughout the years," says Crawford, 57. "Which is not like, we don't ever try to, 'Oh, we can't go there because we might get photographed.'"

For Kaia, this has become increasingly important since she's been linked to Elvis star Austin Butler. The couple was first spotted together in the latter half of 2021 and most recently showed off their love while walking the red carpet for the Time100 gala, where Butler, 31, was awarded as one of the most influential figures of the year.

At the event, the couple cozied up in front of the cameras, posing in an intimate embrace while their eyes locked on one another, showing off their smiles for each other.

Unlike her mom, Kaia also has to contend with developing her career and personal life in the age of social media too — something Crawford is keenly aware of.

"It's a much different landscape than it was kind of when I was her age," Crawford tells PEOPLE at the private Pacific Palisades gala, where guests learned DIY floral arranging with Bouquet Box.

"Like anything, there's good and bad sides to it," she adds. "The good thing is you have direct communication with your audience. The bad thing can be, it's a lot of pressure and you see a lot of snarky comments on there."

"I'm learning along with her about that stuff, but I feel like she seems like she has a very good head on her shoulders and is figuring out how she wants to create that private work-public balance."

Another thing Kaia shares with her mom, with whom she's had many twinning moments over the years, is her love of style.

In December, the whole family — including Kaia's older brother Presley, 23 — turned out to watch her walk in the Celine fall/winter 2023 Fashion Show in Los Angeles.

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Later, her proud mom shared the experience on Instagram.

"Family affair last night at @celine in LA. So fun to see @kaiagerber on the runway — congrats @hedislimane on the new collection 🤍," Crawford wrote.