Halima Aden Is Returning to Fashion But Not As A model

After stepping away from the business of modeling in 2020, Halima Aden has announced getting back to fashion, but this time not as a model. 

“Nothing about my entrance into fashion was mediocre … I came in with a bang and then I left the modeling industry with a bang. Now it is only fitting that I come back on top — and what better way than to have CAA supporting me?” said Aden.

In 2017 and after competing in Minnesota’s Miss USA pageant wearing a hijab, Aden signed a three-year contract renewal with IMG Models and walked the runway for Yeezy, Fenty, Dolce and Gabbana, and Tommy Hilfiger and pose for spreads in Vogue, Elle, and Allure. However, she has decided to leave all this for religious reasons. 

While she doesn’t see herself walking the runway again, she still loves fashion and wants to learn more about the business side of the industry. Being the first global ambassador of the modest fashion e-tailer Modanisa was the turning point that made her return to fashion. 

“It just made me feel like, okay, I have a vision. Because as a model, you understand we don’t have creative freedom, we’re just there to make the team’s creative vision come to life,” said Aden. “This collection gave me the first taste of what it was like to be in creative director mode.”

Aden feels that unlike before, she is now confident in her ability to chart her own path in the industry and wants to better advocate for herself in each individual project she takes on.

“I hope that my return to the fashion industry can be an example to young women that they can stand up for themselves and don’t have to sacrifice their values,” she said.

Till now she didn’t reveal any of the projects she has in mind, but going forward she hopes to continue working RefuShe, a non-profit organization serving Kenyan refugees she started volunteering in 2019. Also, she plans on publishing two books for kids about her life in a refugee camp.