Aisha (21) was the first Dutch woman to wear a headscarf on a fashion cover

Essen Mousse is the first Dutch woman to wear a headscarf on the cover of a prominent fashion glossy – from Venendal – an up-and-supermodel according to her agent Harper’s Bazaar NL. Muslima Aisha never stopped her headscarf, which she herself likes to call her ‘hijab’ during her modeling work.

Ayesha, 21, of Somali origin, tells in an interview Harper’s Bazaar That modeling sometimes gets complicated due to her religion. For example, her neck, neck and upper arms must be covered by every task, a man (whether he is a photographer or not) should not touch her body, and she prays five times a day – whether she does that. Wherever the time is. And: His headscarf always goes on. “My hijab is really my identity, it is who I am. You can’t turn it off, it’s like asking to remove my skin. If my religion is not respected, I would say that there is no assignment. 1000 percent. ”

Aisha, who lives in Veenendal (Utrecht), was discovered at the age of twenty in a shopping center in Utrecht. An agent of supermodel management spotted 1.77 meters tall Aisha while shopping with a friend. At first she felt, she says, a little ‘uneasy’ about his interest in his appearance and doubted whether modeling meant anything to him. However, her surroundings encouraged her and she is now featured on her first cover. An iconic front page for the Big Fashion issue Harper’s Bazaar From March. “A cover? Already? I think I have to work even harder before I can earn it.”

In Ayesha Musé de Desportage at Harper's Bazaar. — In Ayesha Musé de Desportage at Harper’s Bazaar. © Harper’s Bazaar

Aisha is proud of her Somali heritage. Both her parents told her that she should always be herself. Turning back, she was afraid of anything and everything, but now she says that she is crawling from her shell. Ayesha: ,, I want to tell my self self later: there is nothing to fear, you can only be what you are, Be you and be true“

Halima Adan at a Miss Pageant in Minnesota, USA. © Alami

The fact that the combination of modeling with an Islamic religion is sometimes complex is evident from the story of former Somali supermodel Halima Adan. Aden said goodbye to the catwalk last year after an impressive career: she appeared on the cover of Vogue and Elle and has run shows for others such as Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Kanye West’s Yeezy.

Adan (23) said last year when she said goodbye that her faith collided with her work: she could no longer be as she was, ‘Kakuma se bus halima’. Aden (under contract with IMG Modeling Agency) was the first stipulated in his contract that he should not take off his hijab while doing the job. Aden grew up in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. He and his family moved to Minnesota, USA at the age of seven.

According to Miluska van K T Lam, Editor in Chief Harper’s Bazaar NL, Combines fashion reports with Aisha for the theme of the March issue. “In this first edition of 2021, Aisha talks about her roots, her origins and her big dreams, which corresponds to our annual theme ‘Growth’, in which all of us inspire our inner strength to blossom Want to. ” The extra fun that Ayesha takes. In the magazine with mother Mohibo and younger sister Sara.

Although Ayesha’s cover for an iconic fashion magazine can be called historical, other Dutch Muslim women have also made headlines with the front page. For example, YouTuber and influencer Ruba Zai appeared on the cover of lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan in 2018 along with a headscarf.