Somali-American Muslim model Halima Aden who participated at Miss Minnesota USA 2017 where she made head turns as she was the first woman to wear a hijab on-stage and finished as a semi-finalist is going to be the first representative of Somalia at Miss Universe stage.
The diva posted some stories on her social media where she mentioned that she is going to be the first representative of her country on Miss Universe stage. She mentioned, “All those other ‘FIRST’ have prepared me for my TRUE CALLING! I will be the First Miss Somalia on the stage of Miss Universe. Fellow contestants, get ready because I AM COMING.” She is 23-years-old and stands 166 cm tall and was born in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. She moved to the United States at the age of six and attended Apollo High School were her classmates voted her as their school homecoming queen. She is a student at St. Cloud State University.
The diva changed the world upside down for her with her hard work and efforts but she has fond memories of her youth and the community that existed while she was in the refugee camp and gave her the sense of authentic empathy. She is a model and an activist who has received global recognition for wearing a hijab at the beauty competition. Following her participation in the pageant, Halima received national attention and was signed to IMG Models and judged the Miss USA 2017 pageant. She was also the first to wear a burkini for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, she covered magazines such as Vogue, Elle, CR Fashion Magazine and walked for designers such as Alberta Ferrertti and Max Mara.
In 2018, Aden became a UNICEF ambassador and her work is focused around children's rights. She had told multiple sources both before and after the pageant was over, despite not winning, she hoped her participation would serve as a reminder that beauty comes in many different forms. Over the past few days Halima has shared her journey and struggles as a hijabi in the modeling industry and had decided to leave modeling so she never has to compromise her hijab again.
The announcement of Halima’s representing Somalia at Miss Universe stage has been applauded and appreciated by pageant fanatics everywhere because she is one of the strongest contenders for the title and the desire to mark her standing and breaking stereotypes has always driven the diva into putting extra efforts towards making it happen.
In one of her interviews she had mentioned, “I want my sister, my little nieces, even my nephews to see representations of somebody who wears a hijab in modern ways, in such a way that they can relate to. The only times I saw somebody dressed like me was on CNN – and they weren’t doing anything I approve of. I feel like we all deserve representation and I didn’t have that.”
Halima is one of the strongest, confident, and focused models who has received such joy and love from all over the world for her participation. She will not only represent the home country but everyone who believes in changing notions of the fashion and pageant industry.
Wishing her all the luck and success. Congratulations!