RAND AL-HADETHI IS A DUBAI-BASED Freelance WRITER, EDITOR, TRANSLATOR, & RESEARCHER.

Photographed by Dahlia Dandashi

She previously wrote full-time at GQ Middle East for two and a half years and was the senior digital editor at the Middle Eastern digital magazine KHAMSA for a year. Outside the Middle East, her work has appeared in Highsnobiety, Whitewall Art Magazine, Notion, TYPE01, Azeema, and more.

While freelancing, she has been supporting Myrna Ayad on multiple coffee table books, such as ADGM's book Abu Dhabi Rising, and the upcoming Rizzoli book +971: Inside the Minds & Workspaces of 50 Emirati Creatives, and more.

Rand also has a background in production and has written and translated commercial scripts for brands such as Clarins, Elemis, and Architectural Digest ME. She can fluently speak and write in Fus-ha and most colloquial Arabic (Iraqi, Emirati, Lebanese and other Levant accents).

She is also the founder and editor of the platform HABAYTAT - focusing on three pillars: the space you live in, the skin you live in, and the environment you co-exist in. It aims to encourage reflection on the spaces we inhabit and how they influence our lifestyle, taste, and sense of self. 

A: I primarily write about fashion, arts, music, design, books, and social issues through a cultural lens, always asking, “What does this reveal about contemporary culture?”

FAQ: What’s your niche?