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Home > News Shots > Inspiring newsThis Muslim supermodel identified as Halima Aden has made history by becoming the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
According to Sports Illustrated, the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit featuring the 21-year-old Halima Aden will be released on May 8. The magazine shared news about the history-making model on its Twitter account on Monday. Her Sports Illustrated shoot was photographed by Yu Tsai that took place at Kenya's Watamu Beach.
Behind-the-scenes video of the Sports Illustrated shoot, Halima Aden said "Growing up in the US, I never really felt represented because I never could flip through a magazine and see a girl who was wearing a hijab. Don't be afraid to be the first."
"I keep thinking (back) to six-year-old me who, in this same country, was in a refugee camp. So to grow up to live the American dream (and to come back to Kenya and shoot for SI in the most beautiful parts of Kenya ... I don't think that's a story that anybody could make up," Aden told the magazine.
According to IANS reports, Aden, who is Somali-American, grew up in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp, before moving with her family to the US at the age of seven. In 2016, Aden became the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini, ultimately reaching the pageant's semi-finals.
She has many feathers to her cap, in March, she was one of three black hijabi models featured on the cover of Vogue Arabia alongside Ikram Abdi Omar and Amina Adan. While in April 2018, she broke new ground in British Vogue, as the first hijabi woman on the cover, states IANS.