#GoodNews: In a First, British Vogue Features Hijab-Clad Model

The nine models on the magazine’s May cover show “that anything is possible,” writes its editor-in-chief.

20-year-old Halima Aden has become the first hijab-wearing model to appear on the cover of British Vogue.

(Source: Facebook/Halima Aden)

The cover of British Vogue features a hijab-clad model for the first time in its 102-year history, Independent reported. Described as fashion’s “New Frontiers”, nine models have been chosen to grace the cover of the May issue. Among the models is 20-year-old Halima Aden, who dons a hijab.

For Edward Enninful, who took over as the magazine’s editor-in-chief last April, giving these nine models the opportunity to introduce themselves to the world of fashion was “extremely significant.”

Enninful, the first man to ever serve as the magazine’s editor, wrote that these models “represent a new global idea that anything is possible.”

Elated at the fashion industry’s embrace of diversity in the recent past, he said:

It’s about diversity across the board — whether that’s race, size, socio-economic background, religion, sexuality. That’s what I want to celebrate with this cover.”

Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief, British Vogue 

Aden has been joined on the cover by fellow models Adut Akech, Radhika Nair, Yoon Young Bae, Faretta, Fran Summers, Vittoria Ceretti, Paloma Elsesser and Selena Forrest.

The pioneering cover has garnered appreciation from across the globe, with more than 22,000 likes on Instagram in less than a day.

In January this year the magazine was criticized for featuring Nicole Kidman and a couple of other white actresses as “Hollywood’s New Era.”

Subsequently, the magazine was scrutinised for its lack of diversity and Enninful pledged that he would work to push the magazine to be more inclusive, the Independent reported. For this venture, he reiterated that, “Diversity is never just about black and white.”