'Yes' Bella Hadid Is Vulnerable in Vogue US, But Never Forget She's A Daughter of Sekmet AOC Fashion

Bella Hadid covers the April 2022 issue of American Vogue, telling her story to Rob Haskell in ‘Bella From the Heart: On Health Struggles, Happiness and Everything In Between. Gabriella Karefa-Johnson styles Bella in images by Ethan James Green [IG]. / Hair by Jawara; makeup by Kanako Takase and Yumi Lee

For the fashion shoot Bella is wearing Bulgari, Carolina Herrera, Celine by Hedi Slimane; Emilia Wickstead, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela Artisanal designed by John Galliano, Marni, Miron Crosby, Miu Miu, Molly Goddard, Olivier Theyskens, Ralph Lauren Collection, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Tom Ford, Willy Chavarria and more.

“She’s me on a good day.” Bella Hadid says about Sekhmet, the goddess of war, of the hot desert sun, of chaos and pestilence and its opposite, healing. Terrifying to her enemies, promising righteous retribution to her friends—especially the pharaohs—Sekhmet kept the ancient world’s generative and destructive forces in balance.

Bella’s interview for Vogue was written before her recent Instagram posts on the war in Ukraine. Both Hadid sisters donated all of their fashion week earnings in every magic city to the people of Ukraine and also Palestinian relief.

Reading Bella’s emotional but focused condemnation of war generally — and Putin’s war against Ukraine specifically — creates insights into the woman AOC has always loved. It’s totally possible to be a warrior goddess and a deep empath at the same time.

As this consummate professional points out, however, the armor or calm, deliberate demeanor required to live life intensely, as an empath who feels events around her deeply, is fertile ground for being misunderstood.

“The majority of the time when I meet people, they say, I just didn’t think you were going to be nice, that you were going to be this mean, scary dragon lady, or some kind of a sexbot,” she says. “That’s just not me, and if people have a better understanding of who I am, then I feel less alone within myself.”

Yes' Bella Hadid Is Vulnerable in Vogue US, But Never Forget She's A Daughter of Sekmet AOC Fashion