Meet Halima Aden, first model to wear a burqini at beauty pageant

The 19-year-old hijabi model also served as jury member of recently held Miss USA

PHOTO:FILE

Halima Aden took part in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in November 2016, hoping to change how Muslim women are represented in today’s media. The 19-year-old, thereby, became the first hijabi model to compete in the competition, and wear a burqini in the swimwear round.

Halima might not have won the crown but she’s been getting many 'consolation prizes' of late, namely a cover of CR Fashion Book, fashion campaigns, representation by IMG Models, runway gigs at New York and Milan Fashion Weeks, and global media coverage, reported Cosmopolitan.

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Most recently, she came back to the pageant circuit, as a judge for Sunday’s 2017 Miss USA competition. Halima spoke about prepping for the big night in Vegas, the perks of being famous, what she looks for in a beauty queen, and what she hopes to embody as a role model.

PHOTO:FILE


Asked what drew her to pageants, Halima said, “Growing up, I couldn’t relate to anybody I saw in the media. I couldn’t pick a magazine or a channel and see someone who resembled me, or had [a similar] story. I wanted to change that.” The budding star realised that, in this current climate, people could use a positive story, image or a person that can represent Muslim women. “As for Miss USA… everyone knows the Miss Universe organisation. I think everyone tunes in for, or at least knows about, the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. So I knew that if I wanted to give pageants a try, it would be the right organisation for me,” she added.

PHOTO: NEW YORK MAGAZINE



Of course, Halima had lots to sort out before she could venture forth. “My family is first-generation American. For my mom, this is a totally different culture. She escaped civil war in Somalia, went to a refugee camp in Kenya and got us here. Her dreams were to see me educated, so I get why she was a little hesitant at first,” the model revealed.

“We had to talk about it a lot and I told her that education is important to me too, I’m in college now but taking a semester off, to look at it from all sides. I explained that, you might not know because you didn’t grow up here but I did and I didn’t get to see Muslim women represented and that affected me. It was just a matter of walking her through [my plans] step by step. But she’s now onboard!”

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Then came the pageant but fortunately, Halima took it all in her stride. “Honestly, I didn’t worry much about what my gown was going to look like or what my walk would be. I mean, I’m not picky but I didn’t even get my outfit until two days before the pageant! And my makeup artist hooked me up with the skirt I wore, which belonged to one of the girls who was competing for Miss Teen Minnesota USA” she shared.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSoqF84gGQZ/?taken-by=kinglimaa&hl=en

“It was all about the sisterhood! I was excited to have fun and to meet the other girls. I wanted to make new friends. These are all women who’ve accomplished so much at the local level, so why not? You can come home with a great network of women. Everyone was so welcoming and I did go home with a few new friends.”

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