Supermodel Bella Hadid radiated positivity as she touched down in Milan for Fashion Week on Tuesday, marking her return to the industry after declining "every job for almost a year" during her intense battle with Lyme disease. The 29-year-old fashion icon appeared delighted to be back, flashing a broad smile and waving enthusiastically to awaiting crowds at the airport terminal.
Long-Term Health Struggle
Bella has been grappling with chronic neurological Lyme disease for an astonishing 14 years and has recently undergone intensive treatment protocols. Her arrival in Italy's fashion capital signals a significant personal and professional milestone following this extended health-focused hiatus.
Casual Airport Style
The model showcased relaxed sophistication in her travel ensemble, wearing a loose-fitting cream coordinated set consisting of a cardigan paired with matching trousers. She layered this with a long black coat and accessorized with a baseball cap while carrying a substantial leather holdall bag.
Fashion Week Returns
Milan Fashion Week has returned to Italy's style epicenter this week, running through March 2nd, with premier luxury brands presenting their Fall/Winter 2026-2027 collections to the international fashion community.
Work-Life Balance Revelation
In a candid interview with Vogue Italia published Tuesday, Bella revealed her ongoing struggle to maintain equilibrium between her career and health. "The way that I worked for many years was not sustainable," the IMG Model confessed. "Even during COVID I continued to work."
She described how spending time in Texas with her horses and dog provided essential grounding. "Being able to be in Texas with my horses and my dog, having a real life, and then going back to work makes it more fulfilling," Bella explained.
Learning to Say No
The model has developed new professional boundaries through her health journey. Hadid now recognizes she can decline opportunities that don't align with collaborators she genuinely loves, trusts, supports, and respects.
"Now I know that if I'm able to say 'No,' even going through my [Lyme disease] treatment last year and having to say no to every job for almost a year, which I cried about," the former "Beauty" guest star recalled emotionally. "I was emotional because you feel disposable."
Maternal Support System
In September, Bella's mother Yolanda Hadid posted an Instagram tribute celebrating her daughter as a "bada** warrior" during hospital treatment. The "Real Housewives" star wrote admiringly: "I admire your bravery and your willingness to keep fighting for health despite the falling protocols and countless setbacks you have faced."
Yolanda continued with profound empathy: "There simply aren't words big enough for the darkness, the pain, and the unknown hell you've lived through since your diagnosis. You didn't really live, you learned how to exist inside the jail of your own paralyzed brain. I am so proud of the fighter that you are."
Family Health History
Like Bella and her younger brother Anwar, Yolanda contracted the tickborne illness in 2012 but eventually stopped sharing her personal health narrative to avoid "absorbing other people's opinions about my journey."
Yolanda remains "still determined to find a cure affordable for all" eight years after documenting her extensive medical journey in her book "Believe Me," which detailed consultations with "106 doctors" and treatments including Stem Cell transplantation, Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Chelation therapy, and colon hydrotherapy.
Remarkably, in 2023, Yolanda declared she was "finally healthy" and expressed pride in "not giving up on" herself throughout the arduous recovery process.
