Supermodel Bella Hadid features on cover of Vogue Arabia

Dubai - The Hadid sisters have a special connect with this region thanks to their Palestinian roots

As Vogue Arabia turns six months old, and prints its first ever September Issue (with this being fashion's most important month, as fall collections hit the stores), they have Bella Hadid on the cover. She is the second Hadid girl to grace the cover, as her sister Gigi was the face of Vogue Arabia's inaugural issue.
The Hadid sisters have a special connect with this region thanks to their Palestinian roots. But what makes this cover extra special is that it was shot by Karl Lagerfeld - who is not only one of fashion's celebrated designers but also a photographer whose work has previously graced the covers of Hollywood Reporter and Harper's Bazaar.
The Gigi Hadid cover had received mixed reactions. Wearing a custom made beaded veil draped to look like a hijab, some critics felt the use of a hijab as a fashion accessory was inappropriate. And others felt that the Los Angeles born and bred Gigi's connection to this region was not strong enough to warrant her being on the first cover of Vogue Arabia.


Interestingly Bella is also wearing a netted veil, but this time it is very much a true fashion piece and a fascinator finishes the look. And while she is modestly dressed in Fendi (Lagerfeld is the creative director of the Italian fashion house) on both the English and Arabian covers, it does seem more natural and not so forced as her sister's cover.
But with Karl Lagerfeld, fashion's maestro being behind this cover it is not surprisingly that this cover manages to show how modest dressing is fashion forward. As Lagerfeld says in his interview to Vogue Arabia, "I don't follow my second instinct. I don't believe that you can do anything if it comes in second place."


As for his creative process, Lagerfeld explains, "It is very pretentious when I say that I am that creative. I don't just decide to be creative, but it is like breathing to me. Most of the things I do, I see them when I am sleeping. The best ideas are the quickest. No brain. The idea must be like a flash. I can draw faster than I can talk.
I never follow my second instinct. I don't believe that you can do anything if it comes in second place. There are some people who are afraid of the white page, afraid of starting a new project, but not me."
sujata@khaleejtimes.com

 

• MENA