The veiled model Halima Aden revealed via her Instagram account that she will stop modeling to protect her Islamic religious beliefs.
Who is Halima Aden?
The 22-year-old Halima Aden is one of the first veiled Muslim models who work for famous brands such as Yeezy’s, Levi’s, Fenty, Nike, and many fashion shows. She- the Somali supermodel- was Born in a refugee camp in Britain. Yet she has become famous in the past few years for presenting the most luxurious fashion brands while sticking to her hijab.
Aden, who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before moving to the United States, has overcome many barriers during her modeling career: She was the first woman to wear a hijab to appear on the cover of British Vogue and was one of three veiled models to be featured on the cover of the Vogue Arabia.
Halima stands for her hijab
Her announcement of quitting modeling has made lots of arguments in media as she stated that her decision was based on upholding her Muslim faith, and said she regretted working with designers who asked her to step aside from her faith.
Halima Aden posted a series of stories on Instagram in which she stated that she will leave the industry and work only with brands that will not require her to step aside from her beliefs or Islamic “hijab”
Halima attached photos of her wearing hijab and clothes that were not suitable for Islamic principles. The designers forced her to wear without respect for her beliefs, making her “uncomfortable”.
In one of the photos that she posted, she wore a veil over a dress with transparent arms, revealing her body, and in another, Levi’s jeans, which were used on her head instead of a scarf.
Her frankness caused a stir in the Muslim community and other models, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, who praised Halima’s honesty and frankness.
The reason for quitting fashion
she wrote on one of the photos she shared “I had to leave the place because obviously, the designers did not have in mind a woman wearing a hijab, “.
Although she did not mention any brand names or designers, Halima said she regretted not speaking publicly and allowing them to disrespect her veil
She wrote: “Let me wear my hijab as it is.”
Halima criticized the fashion industry, saying: “what I blame the industry for is the lack of Muslim fashion coordinators.”
She advised her million-strong followers to strive for education, equal opportunities, and faith, i.e. faith in Islam (in Arabic).
Halima Aden thanks coronavirus
The Somali fashion model credited her adherence to her principles to her mother, and said spending time with her during the coronavirus pandemic “opened her eyes to a lot of things.”
She assures: “I have never felt freer and more satisfied. Thanks for coronavirus. Because forcing me to stay at home brought a lot of things back into its right place. I’m not going back to fashion”.
Halima Aden holds her prayer mat with her
She was the first woman to wear a hijab in the competition, and then she became known for bringing modest clothes to the world-famous fashion weeks. She has been the star of promotional campaigns for Rihanna’s beauty products as well as for Yeezy
The model praised Rihanna via her Instagram for allowing her to wear a hijab. Halina says she violated the teachings of her religion more than once during her work and missed the prayer. As well as doing fashion suing a cloth to cover her hair instead of wearing a hijab.
She added that she cried in her hotel room after shooting her fashion rounds as doing his was against her personality and against her beliefs. Adding that She was not comfortable with all this, adding “This is not me.”
They young model stated for the BBC in February this year:
“Modesty is not about a particular culture or a group of women, it is the oldest and most prestigious fashion. It has existed since the beginning of life and will remain with us for another hundred years, and people have the choice to stick to it”
“They may call me tomorrow and I will never risk giving up my veil again even for 10 million $,” Aden wrote in one post.
Aden also vowed not to participate in fashion shows or travel to participate in fashion weeks again, adding that “this is where all the bad energy came from.”
Come correctly or don’t come at all
Despite her regret, Aden pointed to a number of photo sessions that she felt were carried out respectfully. Such as the cover shot of Vogue Arabia alongside two dark-skinned veiled models
Eden explained that she does not completely abandon fashion, but sets conditions for those who hope to work with her.
Commenting on another similar image, she said: “This is my standard to move forward if you want to work with me. Come correctly or don’t come at all. No less, no more.”
