Model Halima Aden leaves fashion for her religious beliefs

She was the first to walk in a hijab and the first to star on the cover of

wearing a

.

Now just 23 years old, Halima Aden has announced that she is leaving fashion and retiring from the catwalks.

The Somali-American model who rose as a benchmark among Muslim women has decided to take a step back in her profession after the pandemic has allowed her to see that in this time there have been times when fashion has not respected her beliefs religious.

This is what she has told herself in several

Instagram

, where she explains that she has finally heard her mother's pleas that have “opened her eyes”.

“My mom asked me to stop parading a long time ago.

I wish I hadn't been defensive with her.

Thanks to covid and the breakdown of the industry, I have finally realized where I went wrong on my hijab journey, ”he writes in one of his messages.

Aden has taken a tour of his brief but remarkable career in the industry through several images, where he has shared pleasant moments but also emphasized those that led him to doubt and finally realize that he had put aside what He really cared: his religious beliefs.

"They could call me tomorrow and not even for 10 million dollars I would risk compromising my hijab ever again," she has written, promising never to participate in runway shows or travel during fashion weeks.

She has also expressed regret for specific campaigns she participated in, including the 2017 American Eagle promotion "Why did I let you wear

when at that time I had only worn long dresses and skirts?"

And he added: "I was so desperate at that time for any

that I lost contact with who I was."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Halima Somali (@halima)

In that same year, during a photoshoot for

magazine

, the model excitedly wore her hijab decorated with green fabric and feathers.

Something that he now regrets.

“I went back to my hotel room and cried after this session because deep down I knew I was not.

But I was too scared to speak ”, has counted.

He also recalled another session with a crystal-encrusted headscarf: "I should have gone on

because clearly the stylist did not have a woman in a hijab in mind."

"It is also a very difficult fight when you are the first to do something," the model insisted on her Instagram.

Halima Aden is the daughter of Somali parents who fled the war in their country, and was born in a refugee camp in Kenya.

The family received asylum in the United States when she was seven years old, ending up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the city she still calls home.

After finishing high school (where she was the first Muslim woman in a hijab to be named 'prom queen'), in 2016 she entered the Miss Minnesota beauty pageant.

Until then, no girl had participated in it with a scarf and

Although she did not win, the contest helped Carine Roitfeld to notice her and include her in what was her first fashion editorial, with Mario Sorrenti after the goal.

The Muslim woman also broke molds by signing with IMG, the powerful agency that represents Gisele Bündchen

the Hadid sisters or Karlie Kloss (she negotiated with them conditions such as not wearing anything that revealed skin or having her own cubicle to change clothes).

And the same on the catwalks.

He made his debut in 2017 for Yeezy, Kanye West's signature, which would be the first show of many.

He has also advertised, with campaigns for Nike or Fenty Beauty by Rihanna;

and has appeared in fashion magazines

,

British

and

or

.

In all always posing with hijab.

"I can only blame myself for worrying more about the opportunities than what was really at stake," Halima continued in her posts on Instagram.

Although she is the one who takes full responsibility for having accepted many things that she now regrets, the model does focus on the lack of inclusion within the sector.

"What I do blame on the industry is the lack of Muslim stylists," she has highlighted with several images in which she shows how some brands convinced her to take styles away from the inclusiveness that she wanted to represent.

"I had no one before me paving the way, so mistakes are part of the learning experience," he insisted before his dismissal: "I did well, but it is not enough.

We must have these conversations to really change the system. "