By
Sara S. & Wali Ahmad
Everyone’s favorite supermodel, Halima Aden, made history again when she graced the pages of Sports Illustrated’s illustrious swimsuit issue for a second time last month. Her first feature in the magazine was in April 2019.
This time, we got over forty-five photos (!) of the 22-year old Somali-American supermodel and UNICEF ambassador wearing modest swimwear by fabulous designers such as Tommy Hilfiger, LYRA Swim, Cynthia Rowley, Krahs, Une Piece, TAVIK, and more.
Halima Aden, Sports Illustrated’s first burkini-wearing model, is back https://t.co/Zmfj7vLqYd pic.twitter.com/KMbsvh0QzO
— Page Six (@PageSix) July 23, 2020
Aden was shot by photographer Kate Powers in the Dominican Republic this past February, before the pandemic. (Fun fact: Sports Illustrated hosted a photography workshop for local area girls led by Powers during the same trip!)
Recently, Aden has also joined forces with Allure magazine and a company called Anywear that designs headbands and medical caps with buttons for comfortably holding face coverings and medical masks in place. As part of the #BandingTogether initiative, her collection includes a range of options for Muslim women, including matching mask-and-hijab sets and turbans. For each purchase made, Anywear will donate a headband or hijab set to a healthcare worker on the front lines of COVID-19. In an Instagram post, Aden wrote:
“Having worked in a hospital, even several months into my modeling career, it was important for me to support this project. As many hijab-wearing women are working at health care facilities, I wanted to make sure they have a comfortable option for wearing a mask while keeping their hair covered.”
You can shop Halima’s Anywear collection here to benefit frontline workers and stay safe in style.
If you want to learn more about Halima’s life and trail-blazing career, check out this TED Talk she gave in 2018.
We didn’t have this representation growing up, but Halima is here to inspire the next generation. Couldn’t be more proud. pic.twitter.com/TAPGp8rVQ4
— adna (@AdnaAIA) July 28, 2020
CULTURE
