Halima Aden is making a splash in the fashion industry. The Somali-American was just signed by IMG, becoming the agency’s first Hijab-wearing model, Business of Fashion reports.
Aden made headlines at last month’s Miss Minnesota pageant when she wore a hijab and a burkini during the swimsuit portion of the night, and IMG isn’t the only big name who took note. The model will make her NYFW debut at Yeezy Season 5 on Wednesday, and appear in the next issue of CR Fashion Book.
The Minnesota teen was born in a Kenyan refugee camp and became an American citizen, going to high school in Minnesota. “I didn’t really have modeling in mind,” the 19-year-old told BoF. “I wanted to spread a positive message about beauty and diversity, and to show other young Muslim women that there is room for them.”
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Aden isn’t the first Muslim model that IMG represents, but she is the first that is committed to wearing a hijab. “By representing Halima, I would hope that the next 10-year-old girl wearing her hijab right now will feel included in the experience of fashion, and know that she could do that too,” Ivan Bart, president of IMG Models, told BoF. “We need to reflect in fashion who we are, as a human race.”
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