Rabat – Supermodel Halima Aden will make history by becoming the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is an annual magazine that features women in swimwear at exotic locations around the world.
In this year’s copy of the magazine, which comes out on May 8, Aden will wear a burkini, the full-coverage swimsuit worn by some Muslim women that leaves only the hands, feet, and face exposed.
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 made headlines when she became the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini.
“There are so many Muslim women that feel like they don’t fit society’s standard of beauty,” she told CNN at the time. “I just wanted to tell them it’s OK to be different, being different is beautiful, too.”
In March this year, Aden was on the cover of Vogue Arabia, alongside models Ikram Abdi Omar and Amina Adan. All three were wearing black hijabs, a first for the magazine.
“I think it’s important to remember that wearing a hijab is a woman’s personal choice. It doesn’t make her any better or worse than another Muslim woman. To me, it symbolizes modesty and gives me a sense of power,” she told Vogue Arabia.
According to Sports Illustrated, Aden has proved that there is a place for modest Muslim women in the fashion industry. And the magazine claims its photos are about beauty.
“At SI Swimsuit, we strive to continue to spread the message that whether you are wearing one-piece, a two-piece, or a burkini, you are the pilot of your own beauty,” the magazine announced on Monday.
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Aden’s photoshoot contrasts with the magazine’s usual content. The magazine has in the past caused controversy, featuring racy bikinis that, for some, blur the line between fashion and pornography.
The 2015 front cover featured model Hannah Davis in a low slung bikini bottom. Some readers were not happy.
“Outrageous..inappropriate..pornographic…unnecessary…nasty,” one reader tweeted about the cover.
