Fashion She Is the First Hijab-Wearing Model to Walk International Catwalks. This is Her Story. By Ruthie Friedlander Ruthie Friedlander Twitter Ruthie Friedlander is a New York-based writer, editor, and founder of the At Large Agency. She is also the co-founder of The Chain, a non-profit eating disorder support system for women in fashion and entertainment. InStyle's editorial guidelines Updated on June 4, 2018 @ 10:00AM Pin Share Tweet Email “Only two years ago, I couldn’t find a magazine with someone who dressed like me who was wearing a hijab inside. Forget the cover or anything. Just inside. I couldn’t find that.” These are the words of model Halima Aden, the first hijab-wearing fashion model to walk international runway shows. Aden is one of many women who are participating in the highly-anticipated second iteration of TIME Firsts, presented by Ford, a series that debuted in 2017 with 46 profiles, including Hillary Clinton, Oprah, and Selena Gomez. Aden and her family fled Somalia to a refugee camp in Kenya and finally, to America. In Minnesota, wearing a hijab was nothing short of rare. But Halima did not wear her’s in fear. She was crowned Homecoming Queen. She competed as the first fully-covered Muslim woman in the Miss Minnesota pageant. She was a semi-finalist. She was unafraid. “I got backlash from both my American community … and people who are Muslim.” But Halima was not deterred. Here, Halima Aden shares her journey.