Sports Illustrated Swimsuit features first model in hijab and burkini

Photo: Yu Tsai/ Sports Illustrated This year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is going to feature the first woman to sport a hijab and burkini in the magazine – Halima Aden.  The issue hits newsstands on May 8, SI revealed Monday. In a photo shared to the official Instagram page for the issue, Aden, 21, smiles while submerged in the water. The Somali-American model was born in Kenya at the Kakuma Refugee Camp, where she lived until the age of seven before moving to the United States. For her SI Swimsuit rookie spread, she travelled to her birth country and shot at Watamu Beach with photographer Yu Tsai. Related: Pakistani-Scottish Imtiaz Dharker to become UK’s next poet laureate In the states, Aden found success and broke barriers. She signed to IMG Models after making headlines for competing in hijab at her state's Miss USA pageant in 2016. She became the first woman to wear her traditional Muslim headpiece for the entire competition, also opting to wear a burkini for the swimsuit round. Aden revealed the shoot was emotional on Monday's "Good Morning America." "We definitely had a lot of moments where everybody was, like, breaking down crying because it's a huge moment," she recalled.

.@JanaiNorman sits down with @Kinglimaa, the first model to ever wear a burkini in @SI_Swimsuit: "I want to continue to show girls....you're a queen. Yes you can." https://t.co/w4jfMe8Rhl pic.twitter.com/cAJ1mvgynw

— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 29, 2019

MJ Day, SI Swimsuit editor, promised an issue with "a wide range of age and race and levels of modesty that really is a first for us" during the "GMA" segment. Follow SAMAA English on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.