Pakistani-Saudi model becomes the face of international luxury magazine

Shahina Shaik revealed how she was initially criticised for her mixed appearance

In a recent turn of events, a Saudi-Pakistani model named Shahina Shaik became the face of the January 2020 issue of Harper's Bazaar. She opened up about her struggles as a model while revealing how she was told that she will never end up on the ramp because of her mixed features which led her into becoming the warrior she is today.

"I want world peace," she said with a wink, nonchalantly picking up her coffee cup and staring at everyone with a smirk over the top of it. It’s exactly the kind of knowing self-deprecation you don’t expect from a Victoria’s Secret model, reported the outlet.

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Shahina became a model when she was 8-years-old, and she describes herself as a nerdy and funny individual. Funny enough, in fact, to have been cast opposite award-winning comedian Steve Coogan as his wife in Greed, a thinly veiled skewering of disgraced billionaire and founder of UK fashion conglomerate Arcadia, Philip Green. The film will be released in February, 2020 and will be Shanina’s second feature film.


Shanina cites Victoria's Secret as the brand that gave her the career breakthrough she needed. “It opened so many doors for me. I went to Paris and walked Chanel later that same year, then went to fashion week and did Tom Ford and Oscar de la Renta," she said.

However, that doesn't mean she didn't have to walk over piles of broken glass.

“They said I was never going to be a high-fashion model and that I’d never do runways,” Shanina recalled. “Agents, clients, they all told me the same thing. I would go to castings and never get the jobs that I wanted, and it really affected me – especially so much of it was because I look so mixed,” she says of her aesthetic – a striking, quite possibly unprecedented combination of Saudi, Pakistani, Lithuanian and Australian. With those genes, it’s little wonder she’s a knockout.

Nevertheless, doors were abruptly closed in her face. “I remember going to castings in Europe and getting turned away because of my skin colour,” she said, tearing a serviette in front of her into bits, but with a surprising lack of anger in her voice.



“That was only six years ago,” she added with disbelief. “We’ve come a long way, and we are moving towards a better future. But there’s still some jobs I don’t book because I don’t fit into a certain category. I’ve had to bang down so many doors for people to understand and embrace me. I had to leave Australia to book jobs in New York because I didn’t look like an average Australian girl, but then in New York they told me I was too sexy and I’d never do high fashion,” she continued.

“The fashion industry has to find a voice. Look at Halima Aden – she’s had a huge impact. Beauty doesn’t just have to be one segment or category – it should be international. Why does it matter what colour your skin is? It should matter who you are," concluded the model.

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