Muslim model Halima Aden is taking the fashion world by storm. She recently walked in Kanye West’s Yeezy fashion show during New York Fashion Week, and next month, will be gracing her first major magazine cover for CR Fashion Book Issue 10.
Fellow Somali and fashion icon Iman interviewed Ms. Aden for the cover story, and the two talk about the importance of self-worth and the pride in wearing the hijab. “I always tell [people], ‘Just look around you, there are Muslim women who wear [hijab] and Muslim women who don’t,’” says Ms. Aden. “We have to break the stereotype.” Iman responded, “I think often the West does not understand the history and the privilege of wearing a hijab.”
In the article, Ms. Aden talks about the responsibility she carries representing her faith in the public eye. “I wish I could tell [people], ‘Hey, I’m not a perfect Muslim.’ A lot of people had a misconception that I would be the perfect poster child for Islam. So I got a lot of Instagram comments like, ‘Oh, you don’t have your neck covered, you’re not a Muslim!’ My thing is, stop judging women, especially if you’re a man, because you don’t know the responsibility that comes with wearing a hijab.”
For more on the in-demand model, please see: Meet The Muslim Model Featured In Kanye West’s Fashion Show.
