Minnesota Model, Halima Aden, Makes History As The 1st To Wear Burkini In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO)-- A Minnesota woman is breaking boundaries in the modeling world, becoming the first model to wear a hijab and burkini for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

Twenty-one-year-old Halima Aden was born in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, but she grew up near St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The Somali-American model made history back in 2016 for becoming the first fully-covered Muslim woman to compete in the Miss Minnesota pageant.

RELATED: Halima Aden Makes Semifinals Of Miss Minnesota Pageant

Aden went on to sign with IMG models.

In 2017, she made her New York Fashion Week debut in Kanye West's Yeezy Season 5 show.

RELATED: Wearing Hijab, Halima Aden Makes New York Fashion Week Debut

Now, the Minnesota model is making history once again with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

According to Sports Illustrated, for Aden's SI Swimsuit rookie spread, the model traveled to her birth country where she shot at Watuma Beach with photographer Yu Tsai.

"To grow up to live the American dream [and] to come back to Kenya and shoot for SI in the most beautiful parts of Kenya–I don't think that's a story that anybody could make up," Aden told Sports Illustrated during her shoot.

Aden will be featured in the May 8 issue.