Alana Hadid: “The reality is that the world is shifting in a very serious way.”

I met Alana for the first-time last year in Copenhagen when I was covering the shows, and she made her surprise model debut at Saks Potts on the first day of the fashion week and later continued walking at Munthe. Half-sister to supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, Alana decided to take on a new turn in her career path, becoming more visible in the world of fashion and proving that today when you are forty, you have plenty of opportunities to reinvent yourself. Since then, a lot of things have changed: Alana Hadid has been very vocal about the Palestinian cause, trying to raise attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. She shares with S-quive how she became not only a model and a street-style icon but also an activist, who is not afraid to raise her voice and tells us about her new role as a creative director of the exciting filmmaking project Watermelon Pictures.

How does it feel to start a new adventure at 40?

Obviously, I have had great role models to look up to. I think it’s fun. And what is also amazing about Copenhagen Fashion Week is that starting modelling at forty here is not so taboo. For a lot of other markets, you would never see that. But here there is such a representation of age not just on one runway, but almost on every runway, at least one. I think it’s phenomenal. So I felt very at home and comfortable here. I didn't feel like an older model, I just felt like I was modelling and it’s fun. It’s also amazing to be able to show people that you can start something completely new, and I understand the privilege of getting to do it at forty. But I also think that reinventing yourself is fun and that people who are enjoying their lives are doing it all the time.

You have a feeling for Scandinavian brands, that you master in your street style looks. How did you fall in love with Copenhagen?

You know, it’s so funny. I found Scandinavian brands many years ago. Probably, in the mid-2010s on social media, and then I started looking at who they were following, and who was wearing it, what they were wearing, etc. And I started wearing brands that no one in the US has ever heard of. For example, I have been wearing Baum und Pferdgarten for a very long time. And the same for Ganni! I think I just love that it’s effortless, but it’s also very colourful, fun and edgy.

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“I think creativity and intellect go hand in hand.”

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Was it your first time in Copenhagen last summer?

Correct! A year ago was my first time in Copenhagen, and also my first time walking the runway. I think it was amazing. It was a very awesome way to be introduced to Copenhagen and to Copenhagen Fashion Week. I felt so at home here, and the friends that I’ve made, I feel like they have been my friends for ten years, not one year.

You have always worked with creative projects, but have a major in politics. Where does this interest come from? And how do you mingle both your academic side and your creative side?

I grew up outside of Washington DC, dealing with politics was in our nature. A lot of people who came from my schooling became lawyers, senators, judges and political analysts. So it’s just kind of in our blood. I love being able to use both sides of my brain, I love giving one side a break, and then activating the other. So I think creativity and intellect go hand in hand, and a lot of people, who are seen as creatives, are also incredibly intelligent, and can probably give you very assured observations of politics, they are just never asked. A lot of people who are in fashion did not do anything that had to do with fashion before in school.

You are now the creative director of Watermelon Pictures - a film production and distribution company dedicated to telling and highlighting Palestinian stories. Tell us more about this project.

To be honest, I didn’t come up with it. I won't take the credit even if I always thought about incorporating Palestine into different industries. Watermelon Pictures is the brainchild of two brothers Hamza and Badie Ali. Their father and uncle started a distribution company in the seventies. It’s very unheard of to have Palestinian or Arab-led film distribution companies, and they were ground-breaking. When their sons took over, they wanted to do something for Palestine and when they talked to me about it, I jumped at the chance to be their creative director.

It was after the events following October 7?

Yes, it was. We had conversations before, but after October 7 I think everybody felt that it was necessary to do more. And there was an emergency to advance quickly.

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“Roger Waters — Pink Floyd —, Kweku Mandela and my brother Anwar Hadid, were all producers of the movie ‘Walled Off’.”

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Everybody is talking about two documentaries produced by Watermelon Pictures: “Walled Off” and “Israelism”.

“Walled Off” is an amazing film, done by Vin Arfuso, who is a brilliant Italian-Palestinian director (NB the film tells the story of a hotel of the same name founded and designed by Banksy, which faces the West Bank separation wall in Bethlehem). I always tell people that it is one of the most digestible documentaries out there if you want to understand what happens in Palestine. Obviously, it comes from a slight Palestinian perspective, but there really are all sides of the story. So I think it’s important and interesting for people to watch. And then “Israelism” is a totally different conversation, it comes from a Jewish perspective about the idea of Zionism. As a lot of films have to do with these subjects, both films were already made and hardly had any distribution. So, when we came in, we wanted to make sure that they were seen on the right platforms. A lot of films that have to do with the subject are buried. People are not watching them, because they are not going to be able to find them on Netflix, Apple or other streaming platforms. Our first mission was to take the films that had been already made and make sure that they were seen. Both “Walled Off” and “Israelism” are already available on Apple, Netflix, and almost every streaming platform worldwide. And as we are talking, we are also in production with other films, but I can’t talk about it yet. But soon there will be Watermelon Production movies fully produced by us. It’s very exciting.

A bunch of important people like Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters participated in the production of “Walled Off”. Was it already the case when you joined the project?

This was Pre-Watermelon being involved. Roger Waters and Kweku Mandela, and obviously my brother Anwar Hadid, were all producers of the movie. And I think it speaks to the fact that a lot of this was important to the people before October 7. This film was made between 2018 and 2021. It’s not a new subject, it’s something that people have been interested in, it’s been important to a lot of famous and important people for a very long time.

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“The reality is that the world is shifting in a very serious way.”

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You have become a full-time activist vocal about the Palestinian cause. Why is it important for you to have a proactive political position and speak up?

There is no time for fear now. The reality is that the world is shifting in a very serious way, the things that are important, that seem to be important only to some people will eventually be important to you, as well. So if you stay silent on this, then don’t expect everyone to be able to speak up for you when it comes to you. It’s all connected. Solidarity is important. Obviously, this is a keystone issue, when it comes to liberty, equality and justice. And it’s important to speak up now. Obviously, I am Palestinian, I am going to be speaking up for my people, no matter what. But this is a human rights issue, and this is about humanity, equality, justice, and liberation, issues that affect all people. You know, this is about Palestine, but it’s also about Congo and Sudan and all other places that have been and are facing massive injustices.

A lot of people in creative industries understand what is happening, but are afraid to speak up or take sides in fear that it will affect their careers. What will you say to them?

I would say that in school we learned about a lot of atrocities that were happening before, and we all thought we would be the people that would speak up. So be the person you imagined you would be for those other tragedies now. Because they are happening now, you are watching them now, and you could be a person who speaks out. Later on, history will not be very nice for the people who didn’t see that this was a horrible thing happening to Palestinian people. And, you know, if you don’t want to speak about Palestine, then speak about Tigray. It’s been going on for years, as well. There is solidarity in all of these movements.

The media is named S-quive (like dodge). What would you try to escape or avoid if you could?

That’s a hard question! I would love to escape Palestinian occupation… But I think I am on the right path in my life, and I don’t think I would want to escape it at all. I think I am doing the right thing, I am enjoying myself. And I am also speaking up for people that don’t have a voice.