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

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.

Anne here, making myself totally crazy this evening, because I’ve compared Bella to a warrior goddess — I swear — many years ago. Periodically the article resurfaces in the top 100, and that has happened recently.

It’s very difficult being a a descendant of warrior goddess, because they take over your personality whenever they wish — and make heavy demands on your inner spirit. I just Googled “when Oya met Sekhmet”, and it promises to be interesting reading.

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.”

When people feel the pain and injustice of others, being ruled by a kickass, ancestor like Sekhmet, the path of human interaction is not clear. We all weep frequently . . . it’s important for people to understand that reality about the great-great-great-great [add more ‘greats’] granddaughters of warrior goddesses, who got wiped out once and for all with the rise of the patriarchy in fifth-century BC Greece.

While acknowledging that her tears are real, Bella understands that there’s a fine line between asking for empathy and being perceived as weak or — worse — living in a state of self-absorbed narcissism.

So we feel badly — or I do — reading about Bella’s daily state of being, one she is deliberately and consciously working to change:

For years, Bella didn’t dare speak to colleagues about the depression, anxiety, and Lyme disease, with its rotary cannon of physical and cognitive symptoms, that have pursued her since early adolescence. She blames a habit of people-pleasing but does not let the fashion world, possessed of what she views as a “don’t ask don’t tell” attitude about mental health, off the hook. “For three years while I was working, I would wake up every morning hysterical, in tears, alone,” she recalls. “I wouldn’t show anybody that. I would go to work, cry at lunch in my little greenroom, finish my day, go to whatever random little hotel I was in for the night, cry again, wake up in the morning, and do the same thing.”

Bella’s frankness in this interview is stunning, and it’s clearly because she wants to be at least perceived properly — if not understood deeper than the veneer of her body, beauty and visible temperament. Hadid explains what I call her ‘never let them see you sweat’ demeanor.

“People can say anything about how I look, about how I talk, about how I act. But in seven years I never missed a job, canceled a job, was late to a job. No one can ever say that I don’t work my ass off.”

Designer Michael Kors works closely with Bella Hadid and he affirms the supermodel’s ability to wake up tearful about the world and human existence, but carry-on as the consummate professional.

“Working with Bella takes me back to when we started working with Gisele,” says Michael Kors, who first met the younger Hadid sister backstage at his spring 2017 show. Making the turn on her opening pass, wearing a black dress and very high heels, Bella rolled her ankle and wiped out. No one helped her up, but she dusted herself off with such cool aplomb that Kors likely would never have known if he hadn’t heard another model compliment her backstage. “Gisele would redo things over and over again, because she wanted things to be great. It was an era where you were there to roll up your sleeves and get the work done. Bella is the same way. She’s smart, she’s collaborative. She’s got a sense of silliness and hard work in balance. And she’s kind to everyone—not just me—which is a big deal. I’ve worked with people who might be lovely to me, but are they lovely to everyone on the team? No. But I think that’s how she approaches the world.”

Rob Haskell has grown exponentially in his ability to interview a beautiful woman without treating her like a babe with maybe a few brains. So kudos to him. The interview is long and very worth the read. It’s Bella’s show.

For me personally, with Ethan James Green’s images being shot a mile or two down the road from Carversville in God’s country, I was ripe for warrior goddess talk. The images are gorgeous.

Sending deep respect and love to Bella Hadid. Keep going forward, sister. May the force be with you . . . And never stand down, Bella. It’s probably going to get tougher out there. ~ Anne