DUBAI: US-Somali model Halima Aden took to Instagram over the weekend to stand by her decision to carry on wearing her hijab, saying it “is not going anywhere.”
The model made waves as the first-ever model to appear on a Fashion Week runway wearing a hijab and also made history when she appeared on the 2019 issue of Sports Illustrated wearing a scarf and burkini.
“My hijab is not going anywhere. Not today, not tomorrow, not (ever). The road has been long and very painful at times, but also so incredibly rewarding. I’m not asking you to stop the criticism or double standards. I’m just asking you to see me as a human being. It’s easy to pass judgement when you’ve never walked a mile in someone’s shoes,” she wrote on Instagram this week, alongside a photo of herself as a grinning child wearing a headscarf.
She is the first hijab-wearing model to grace the cover of a Vogue magazine edition with her June 2017 Vogue Arabia cover.
It’s impressive for someone whose first chapters of life couldn’t be more far removed from the fashion industry. She was born in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, before relocating to the US with her family when she was six-years-old.
She would go on to cinch bookings at renowned international brands, such as Alberta Ferretti and Max Mara, land major campaigns with the likes of Nike, Fenty Beauty and MAC Cosmetics and appear on the pages of prestigious publications.
