Bella Hadid

Biography

Isabella Khairiah "Bella" Hadid, born October 9, 1996, in Washington, D.C., is a Palestinian-American supermodel and entrepreneur who became one of the most recognizable faces in global fashion during the 2010s and 2020s. She is the daughter of Mohamed Hadid, a Palestinian-American real estate developer born in Nazareth in 1948 whose family was displaced during the Nakba, and Dutch-American former model Yolanda Hadid. Alongside her elder sister Gigi Hadid, Bella rose to prominence as part of a new generation of supermodels, and she has repeatedly and publicly affirmed her Palestinian identity at the height of her fame. Hadid signed with IMG Models in 2014 and quickly became a fixture on international runways, walking for houses including Chanel, Dior, Versace, Givenchy, Moschino, and Marc Jacobs, and appearing in campaigns for Dior Beauty, Bulgari, and Michael Kors. She was named "Model of the Year" by Model.com in 2016 and topped industry "most in-demand" rankings in subsequent seasons. Beyond the runway, she has appeared on the covers of Vogue editions worldwide and became one of the most photographed and most-followed models of her era, with a social-media reach numbering in the tens of millions. Increasingly, Hadid has channeled her visibility into business ventures. In 2021 she co-founded Kin Euphorics, a non-alcoholic functional-beverage brand, serving as co-founder and creative force alongside CEO Jen Batchelor. In 2024 she launched 'Ôrəbella, a clean, vegan, alcohol-free "skin parfum" line built around a proprietary bi-phase base, created in response to her own sensitivities to traditional alcohol-based fragrances. The brand secured distribution through Ulta Beauty in the United States, Selfridges in the United Kingdom, and hundreds of Douglas stores across Europe, and later closed a growth-equity / Series A funding round led by Silas Capital to fund global expansion. Hadid has been one of the most prominent public figures of Palestinian descent to speak openly about Palestine, frequently posting about Palestinian rights and the war in Gaza, attending pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and at times facing professional and online backlash for her advocacy. Her willingness to foreground her heritage on the world's largest fashion and commercial stages has made her a symbol of Palestinian visibility within global popular culture. Now in her late twenties, Hadid has scaled back her runway appearances to focus on her businesses, horse-riding, and equestrian competition, while continuing to use her platform for Palestinian and humanitarian causes. Her trajectory from a globally marketed fashion icon to a founder of consumer brands marks her as both a cultural and a business figure of her generation.

Why This Person Matters

As one of the world's most visible supermodels and a founder of consumer brands, Bella Hadid has insistently centered her Palestinian heritage on the global stage, turning personal fame into a platform for Palestinian visibility.

Historical Context

Bella Hadid belongs to the post-Nakba Palestinian diaspora through her father Mohamed Hadid, who was born in Nazareth in 1948 and whose family was displaced amid the founding of Israel and the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians. Raised in the United States, she represents a third generation of a diasporic family that, by lineage, traces itself to Daher al-Umar, the 18th-century ruler of northern Palestine. Her prominence coincided with renewed global attention to Palestine, and her public advocacy during the Gaza war placed a household name from the Palestinian diaspora at the intersection of celebrity culture and one of the era's most contested political questions.

Legacy & Influence

Bella Hadid's lasting influence lies less in any single fashion credit than in her demonstration that a global commercial icon can openly and unapologetically claim Palestinian identity at the peak of her career. For many young people in the Arab world and the diaspora, she normalized pride in Palestinian heritage within the mainstream of Western pop and beauty culture, while her brands Kin Euphorics and 'Ôrəbella position her among a generation of model-founders converting celebrity into ownership. Her advocacy, conducted at personal and professional risk, has become a reference point for the role of public figures in Palestinian visibility.

References & Sources

1. Bella Hadid — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Hadid
2. Mohamed Hadid — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hadid
3. Bella Hadid celebrates her father's Palestinian roots on his birthday — https://www.arabnews.com/node/2404606/lifestyle