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It’s no secret that every since Halima Aden hit the scene, she has been shifting fashion industry standards.

From making history as the first Miss Minnesota contestant to compete in a burkini and a hijab in 2016 to be being the first model to wear a burkini in Sports Illustrated she’s giving us all the #BlackGirlMagic by staying true to her herself and her faith.

Her newest magazine continues to make history: Aden is the first woman to rock a hijab on the cover of Essence in the publication’s 50-year history.

Drenched in all-pink, the 22-year-old the Somali-American model looks a dream in the iconic magazine’s Jan/Feb 2020 issue.

Halima Aden Essence Cover

Source: Essence JD Barnes / Essence

Just gorgeous!

It’s important for me to be visible and to do whatever I can to let girls know that they don’t have to change who they are,” Alim told writer Jeannine Amber.

“I want them to know the world will meet them exactly where they stand.”

In an interview with HelloBeautiful this summer, Aden opened up about the support and questions she got about rocking a burkini.

“Women were reaching out to me who are not even Muslim or don’t even wear a hijab, and were like ‘sis, I get sunburned really bad and I need this full coverage of burkini. Where can I get it?,’” Aden said as flashed her megawatt smile.

“I think that’s been like 50 percent of my messages is like non-Hijabis and non-Muslims who are just like ‘I need something besides a two-piece or a one-piece and I want to wear it to the beach or outside or whatever.’”

“I also am getting so many messages from Muslim women and girls who never thought such an iconic magazine like Sports Illustrated would have somebody who wears a hijab and burkini,” she continued.

“So, it just feels so surreal all around. I’m just so grateful to MJ Day [Editor of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue] because I understand she took a big risk. It was the first time that that’s been done and I’m so honored and grateful that she allowed me to participate. My Instagram following jumped like 40,000, which was nice.”

We can’t wait to see what 2020 brings her!

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Halima Aden (And Her Hijab) Are Pretty In Pink On Her First Essence Cover!  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com