Hanan Sobati is not a big fan of the word empower. “I’ve never really liked [it] because I feel like we are already empowered, you know what I mean?” she says, speaking over the phone from her home in Dubai. And when it comes to her all-female luxury car club, the Arabian Gazelles, you’d be hard-pressed to deny they’ve got some serious torque. During the past 12 months, as the UAE has become further embroiled in the conflicts in Yemen and held onto its political alliance with Saudi Arabia in the face of much controversy, the gregarious Sobati and the Gazelles have become something like poster children for the women’s movement in the region, both in the sense of progress for women, and in, well, movement.

 

Since the Algeria-born Sobati launched the club in 2016 with a few of her close friends, the Gazelles have garnered worldwide attention—and plenty of Instagram likes— for their ultra-glamorous exclusive girls group, one that isn’t just about like-minded wealthy women who shop and throw parties and try to outdress one another, but rather, women who find their bliss inside the steering wheel of a six-figure supercar. Think Real Housewives, only no catfighting, and on wheels. Very, very fast wheels. 

 

Brooke Bobb, Vogue.com

 

 

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles
Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Eliane Amer in her Lamborghini Aventador.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Elia Matin behind the wheel of her Ferrari 458, passing a billboard of Sheikh Hamdan and his father, Sheikh Mohammed.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Alina Asif driving her Audi R8 on Sheikh Zayed Road.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

(Left) Ghada Sawalmah is the CEO of Gargash Hospital and the Dr. Husnia Gargash Fertility, Gynecology, and Obstetrics Center. (Right) Sawalmah [Arab]CUT outside of her family home in Dubai with her Mercedes SLS. She says that her grandmother was the first woman in Dubai to drive and to own a Mercedes in the 1960s.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

When Bushra Chahbouni isn’t driving her bright blue Bentley 4-door, she is running Al Marmoom, the equine therapy center for developmentally disabled youth that she founded on behalf of her son (2nd image, right).

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

The club gathers for track sessions at the Dubai Autodrome.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Dana al Tuwarish, a friend of Sobati’s who is thinking of joining the Gazelles, took a ride around the track in the passenger seat of Sobati’s car.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

(Left) Sarah Abdallah after driving the track. (Right) Suzie Robertson, a new member of the Gazelles.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

(Left) Matin (foreground) and Asif driving on the highway in Dubai. (Right) Amer’s Chanel bag and Valentino heels on the seat of the car on track day.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Charlotte O’Brien fills up the tank of her McLaren before hitting the mountain roads at Jebel Jais outside of Dubai.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

Amer shuts the door before speeding away.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles

(Left) The jewelry never comes on a drive. (Right) Gazelles founder Hanan Sobati in her McLaren.

Vogue - Arabian Gazelles
Vogue - Arabian Gazelles
Vogue - Arabian Gazelles