Just a week after she made her catwalk debut in Kanye West’s New York show, hijab-wearing model Halima Aden is now making waves at Milan Fashion Week.
This morning, the 19 year-old walked at the Max Mara show, while yesterday she appeared alongside supermodel Gigi Hadid at Alberta Ferretti. She tells The Telegraph that she feels “proud” of what she has achieved so far. In the past week, the fashion industry has welcomed her with open arms, both on the catwalk and with the reveal of her first magazine cover, fronting former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book. Roitfeld has become something of a mentor to Aden.
“I felt so powerful in the look that I wore on the runway,” she says of the buzz at Ferretti’s show yesterday. “Gigi is someone I look up to; I had the chance to meet her at the CR Fashion Book shoot and I was star struck. She was so sweet to take a selfie with me and then she started following me on Instagram. I remember screaming when I saw that she was following me.”
The breakthrough star of the season- a Somali-American who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp- was signed by IMG only a few months ago and has been making headlines as a young woman who insists that designers should represent women of all cultures on the catwalk, including those who want to wear modest dress.
“Everyone was so welcoming and accepting,” Aden tells us of the reaction she’s received since appearing on Kanye West’s catwalk last week. “I have strict wardrobe requirements based on my religious and cultural upbringing. I haven't received any pressure to be anything other than myself and for that I am so grateful.”
“I never knew that a woman wearing a hijab could be a model; it's so exciting,” she says of her goal to encourage more Muslim women and other young women to demand that they are all represented in fashion images. “I never grew up seeing women that looked like me in magazines or on TV and didn't feel like I had a place in the world of fashion. I am honoured to be part of that change.”
Timely, also, is that her first magazine cover is due to hit stands on 2nd March. Roitfeld reached out to Aden after she had seen her model in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. Wearing a hijab throughout and a burkini during the swimsuit portion of the competition (rather than the usual tiny bikinis) Aden stood out as a young woman who was committed to her beliefs and willing to challenge industry ideals.
“My first taste of modeling was the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in late November, not even three months ago,” Aden says. “It's because of that opportunity that so many doors have opened for me.”
“Carine Roitfeld's team reached out to me and invited me to New York to shoot for her magazine. They had read about my story in the media and thought I would be a good fit for Issue 10 of the CR Fashion Book. It was my first photo shoot ever!”
Having caught the attention of one of fashion’s most powerful stylists, Roitfeld then arranged for Aden to be interviewed by another fashion icon, supermodel Iman. The resulting pictures also show Aden to be a natural in front of photographer Mario Sorrenti’s lense.
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