Bella Hadid On Her Dream Wedding Dress By Vivienne Westwood, Happiness, and Middle Child Syndrome

Hadid takes us down memory lane, from wearing mens Louis Vuitton to walking for Karl Lagerfeld.

Bella Hadid On Her Dream Wedding Dress By Vivienne Westwood, Happiness, and Middle Child Syndrome

Bella Hadid’s outfits aren’t merely outfits, but rather a glimpse into her life. The September cover girl’s Life in Looks video is a mini autobiography, chronicling her entrance into the industry as well as the emotions that come with it. Following in her mother, Yolanda, and sister Gigi’s footsteps, Hadid started modeling and signed with IMG at the age of 16. Though it wasn’t until 2015 that Hadid truly began to blossom and become a household name. That year, Hadid attended the China: Through the Looking Glass Met Gala with Topshop, a standout moment in which she wore a “short little dress.” Even early on, it was evident that Hadid would stand out from the fashion pack. Those vertiginous gold heels she wore with her Met Gala dress? Hadid picked them herself. “I had no shoes and I went to the Saint Laurent store and got them myself,” she says. “I still have them today.”

The supermodel considers Cannes Film Festival in 2016 the beginning of her (still very much ongoing) bombshell streak. There, she walked the red carpet in Alexandre Vauthier in a red silk slip dress with a thigh-high slit. “I look very sexual. I was still nervous about cameras and having a lot of makeup on and nervous about this slit,” she says. “This was the start of the Bella persona that everyone sees in me.” Hadid has named that alter ego Belinda. “I am just so the opposite of her,” she says. “She is very va va voom.”

Hadid’s time on the runway is also iconic. A standout moment was when she closed the Fendi fall couture 2016 show at Karl Lagerfeld’s request. “I miss Karl a lot, but these moments are the reasons why I am so grateful I was able to meet him and have those moments with him,” she says. “ I’ll have them forever.”

Hadid is also a street style star, with each look more midriff-baring and vintage-infused than the last. Fun fact: Hadid styles much of these very paparazzi-worthy moments herself, including the time she wore a Louis Vuitton monogram men’s cummerbund as an itty-bitty top. “I love to show a little skin,” she says

Hadid is also known to trawl the Gen Z-beloved site, Depop. “I can buy things that no one else has,” she says. One recent find was a pink plaid Burberry skirt suit that she wore to the Cannes Film Festival. In the photo, she’s in full Cher Horowitz form posing in front of a picturesque sunset. “It makes me emotional because I am so happy in this picture. For the first time and in my whole adult life, I feel at ease,” she says. “Compared to the girl who I saw in the beginning, she is so sad and [now] she is so content and happy and I love to see that progression. I feel blessed that I made it out of that mental state that I was in for so many years, so it feels good and we love her!”

Director: Rom Bokobza

Director of Photography: Emmanuella Zachariou

Editor: Michael Suyeda, Daniel Poler

Producer: Naomi Nishi

Producer, On-set: Jordin Rocchi

Associate Producer, On-set: Cecilia Sallusti

Hair: Evanie Frausto

Makeup: Miguel Ramos

AC: Dan Stebbins

Gaffer: Devan Davies-Wood

Sound: Gabe Quiroga

Set Design: Alice Martinelli