--- title: Halima Aden discusses beauty standards in 2017 interview description: Former refugee Halima Aden is Allure's July cover girl, where she discusses her choice to wear a hijab — and the freedom it affords her. canonical: https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-20T20:30:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:44:42.814Z og:title: Hijab-Wearing Just Landed a Glossy Magazine Cover og:description: Halima Aden is Allure's new cover model og:url: https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb079f3563d099e16/6988d2844ee262ae1630dcf8/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-FASHION-ITALY-WOMEN-MAX MARA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hijab-Wearing Just Landed a Glossy Magazine Cover twitter:description: Halima Aden is Allure's new cover model twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb079f3563d099e16/6988d2844ee262ae1630dcf8/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Hijab-Wearing Model Just Landed a Glossy Magazine Cover  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 20, 2017 8:30 PM UTC  Somalian model Halima Aden presents a creation for fashion house Max Mara during the Women's Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion week in Milan, on February 23, 2017. Somalian model Halima Aden presents a creation for fashion house Max Mara during the Women's Fall/Winter 2017/2018 fashion week in Milan, on February 23, 2017.Miguel Medina—AFP/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 20, 2017 8:30 PM UTC Model Halima Aden is not your average 19-year-old runway regular. The [Kenyan-born Somali-American teen](http://motto.time.com/4690296/halima-aden-muslim-model-fashion-industry/?iid=sr-link1) is also _Allure_‘s July cover girl, marking a major moment in the history of that publication and the depictions of women of Muslim backgrounds in mainstream U.S. media. That’s because in her cover image and throughout the spread, Aden wears a hijab — a traditional Muslim head covering — and her modeling career is only picking up steam. “I have much more to offer than my physical appearance, and a hijab protects me against ‘You’re too skinny,’ ‘You’re too thick,’ ‘Look at her hips,’ ‘Look at her thigh gap,’” she explained to writer Molly Young in the interview. “I don’t have to worry about that.” Instead, Aden has been pursuing her high fashion profession with aplomb, walking in [Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 5](http://time.com/4671139/halima-aden-hijab-yeezy-show-nyfw/?iid=sr-link3) show in February and again in Max Mara’s and Alberta Ferretti’s recent shows. She’s no stranger to breaking barriers: she first garnered national attention by [wearing a burkini](http://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/?iid=sr-link2) at the Miss Minnesota USA beauty contest, where she was competing for a college scholarship. But this magazine cover — and her frank, honest attitude about her choices regarding self-presentation — should help her find an even more widespread audience. > [](https://twitter.com/Kinglimaa/status/877181177894973440) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/"},"headline":"This Hijab-Wearing Model Just Landed a Glossy Magazine Cover","datePublished":"2017-06-20T20:30:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:42.814Z","description":"Former refugee Halima Aden is Allure's July cover girl, where she discusses her choice to wear a hijab — and the freedom it affords her.","url":"https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/","keywords":["Newsfeed","beauty","fashion","Models"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb079f3563d099e16/6988d2844ee262ae1630dcf8/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb079f3563d099e16/6988d2844ee262ae1630dcf8/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-FASHION-ITALY-WOMEN-MAX MARA","caption":"TOPSHOT-FASHION-ITALY-WOMEN-MAX MARA","creditText":"Miguel Medina—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4825736/halima-aden-allure/","name":"This Hijab-Wearing Model Just Landed a Glossy Magazine Cover"}}]}] ```