And she wasn’t the only hijabi model on the Max Mara catwalk either….

SOURCE: EMIRATES WOMEN

BY: EMMA DAY

She made her Milan Fashion Week debut just one year ago, but now Halima Aden is quite the catwalk staple.

The 20-year-old hijabi model walked for Max Mara on Thursday in the Italian fashion capital, almost 12 months to the day that she starred in the luxury label’s Autumn/Winter 2017 show.

The Somali-American star, who shot to fame in 2016 after donning traditional Muslim dress to compete in a US beauty pageant, joined a star-studded lineup of models, with Gigi Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Lara Stone, Joan Smalls and Doutzen Kroes also taking to the runway.

Aden sported a silky headscarf, fine knit and leather skirt layered over leather trousers for her appearance, topped off with a super-luxe mohair coat.

All black, all we want to wear right now.

She wasn’t the only hijabi on the runway either, with Max Mara casting another model in the show, who donned a leopard-print headscarf and Prince of Wales checked maxi and slouchy blazer.

Seriously, there’s nothing we wouldn’t give for that boyishly tailored jacket to be hanging in our wardrobe.

Aden also stole the show earlier in the month at New York Fashion Week, where she walked for Philipp Plein, wearing a sheer trench coat and crystal-emblazoned teddy backpack.

She was also spotted on the front row at the Sherri Hill show, wearing a metallic jacquard overcoat and pleated trousers. Although we’re barely looking at her clothes with radiant skin like that…

The model has previously opened up about her rise to fame, revealing she was “never expecting” to forge a career in the fashion industry.

However she’s using her new role to help inspire women just like her.

“Growing up, I knew what it was like not having representation. When I say representation, I just mean people who resemble you or someone you could relate to, or someone who even dresses like you,” Aden told i-D magazine last year.

“If I can give that opportunity to a girl, where she can flip through a magazine and see someone dressed like her, or someone who looks like her or has a similar background, I think that’s important.

“Me being out in the public and displaying my religion, my faith, being different to what the stereotype is — I think that has opened a lot of people’s eyes.”