“WHEN I FIRST STEPPED INTO THE WORLD OF FASHION, I THOUGHT THEY WOULD ACCEPT ME AS I AM, IN MY HIJAB. BUT I HAD NO INTENTION OF TAKING ANY STEPS BACK ON THIS MATTER.”
Halima Aden, who made history as the first hijab model in the world, announced that after 3 years of modeling on the catwalks, she quit her job in the days when the pandemic process began. Recently, she came to Turkey to showcase her collections she has prepared for the Turkish Internet shopping site Modanisa.
According to the interview in Sabah newspaper, Halima Aden described her decision to say goodbye to the catwalks as follows;
“First of all, I think I'm a little naive when I step into the world of fashion. At the beginning I thought they would accept me as I am, in my hijab.
I had no intention of taking any steps back on this matter. I always say, “Don't change yourself for the game, but change the game”. When I noticed that everything was starting to go in a different direction, that some thing was increasingly changing against my will, I made the decision to quit modeling.
I have always wanted to in formand to mobilize the public about the issues that are important to me. It was already my dream to become an activist. I'm so glad that I got into this business, Modeling has been an important step for me to realize what I want to do. There was no point in me being on the cover of Vogue with out my hijab on my head. To tell the truth, I thought for a long time about making the decision to give up podiums and modeling.
To tell you the truth, I thought long and hard about making the decision to pull out of the modeling. But after making a final decision, it was not difficult for me to implement this decision. Right now, I am totally committed to my decision.
It was very important to me how to return to the world of fashion again. At the moment, I'm approaching the fashion world from a completely different angle. I'm stepping into fashion again as a designer. There is nothing that bothers me at the moment, because I do my job completely in my own way, it is very important for me to do things in accordance with my beliefs. Because it is much more important for me to give the message that you do not have to give up your core values while doing something. Always do the jobs that you really want, and you really love. You can carry out a job you like with out having to compromise on your principles an your values.
Right now I am very happy to be working with a brand that I love and believe in.”
“DON'T CHANGE YOURSELF FOR THE GAME, BUT CHANGE THE GAME”.
Translated by Özden Atukeren