“A lot of people have the misconception that, as a Muslim woman, I am somehow against women wearing bikinis. No, I want women to feel comfortable and confident in whatever they wear.”

American fashion model, born 1997

Halima Aden is an American fashion model. Born in 1997, she came to wider attention in 2016, when she became the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, where she reached the semifinals. After the pageant, she drew national notice and signed with IMG Models. She later became the first model to appear in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue wearing both a hijab and a burkini, a milestone that extended her visibility in mainstream fashion media.