Bella Hadid was the hottest model in the world and he was—depending on your tolerance for ruffles and wallpaper prints—the hottest designer in the business. But even at her most prolific, Hadid never walked for Alessandro Michele’s Gucci. She was too glamorous, too conventionally beautiful to believably be a part of his oddball cabal beloved for their wide-set eyes and glam-rock haircuts.
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But that might soon change. Bella Hadid was yesterday afternoon photographed leaving a Valentino showroom in Paris ahead of Michele’s debut catwalk for the Roman house. She wore an outsized Saint Laurent trench coat over an archetypal model-on-a-go-see outfit: a form-fitting T-shirt, Alo Yoga leggings, Miu Miu biker boots, and a Saint Laurent handbag spacious enough for heels, makeup wipes, and whatever else comprises a working model’s arsenal. Would this spell her own comeback?
Last August, the model said “I’ll be back when I’m ready,” while announcing that she had returned to a place of good health after receiving 100 days of treatment for a serious Lyme disease flare-up. “I miss you all so much. I love you all so much.” And while she has returned to the public forum—launching a perfume brand and participating in several spit-and-sawdust rodeos—Hadid has not yet made an appearance at fashion week. A Michele-sized spectacle would provide an appropriate stage for this model’s homecoming, but Saint Laurent or even Miu Miu would surely be a more obvious host.
This article first appeared on British Vogue.
