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Updated 6 hours ago, September 21, 2026

On February 15, 2018, during New York Fashion Week, Presley Gerber sat down at Bang Bang Tattoo in New York and had “Kaia” inked in thin lowercase script on his left tricep, with the Roman numerals XXIII underneath. He was 18. Kaia was 16 and in the room, along with his then-girlfriend Charlotte D’Alessio. The artist was Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena.

Presley posted a black-and-white close-up to Instagram that afternoon with the caption: “23.” He never publicly explained the number. Two readings stuck: their combined birthdays (July 2 and September 3), and Kaia’s first Chanel Haute Couture show on January 23, 2018, weeks before the tattoo. Kaia later got her own small “23” on the back of her arm.

That night she reshared his photo to her Stories and wrote, “@presleygerber best big bro ever.” Rande Gerber commented on the original post, “RG + JG APPROVED!” Cindy Crawford wrote, “Cool.”

The tribute went both ways. Kaia later got “Prez,” his nickname, in block letters on her upper shoulder, and “1999,” his birth year, on the back of her ankle. In January 2020, the siblings went together to New York artist Evan Kim. She got a wrist flower and an interlocking-arms heart. He got “HAHA” on his fingers and posted a mirror selfie captioned, “Sibling tatts always.”

Presley Gerber died on September 20, 2026, at 27. He was the only son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. The family has asked for privacy.

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