Photographed by Txema Yeste for Vogue Arabia April 2019
Halima Aden may be the most glamorous camp counselor ever. While her model peers spend their summer vacation jumping from one exotic resort to another, the 21-year-old runway star has been putting her downtime to good use. Aden headed down to Bradenton, Florida earlier this week to serve as one of the mentors at IMG’s annual fashion camp. Centred on teaching aspiring designers, models, and industry professionals the inner workings of the business, the 6-day event featured speakers and workshops with everyone from Gigi Hadid to Meghan Markle’s go-to makeup artist Daniel Martin and superstar stylist Karla Welch. For her part, Aden wanted to make the experience meaningful for the campers. “I think of it as an investment in fashion’s future,” she says, speaking over the phone from Florida. “Information is wealth and it’s giving kids such an advantage to step into the industry already knowing so much. I’m so excited for them!”
Aden, who first attended the event as a guest last year, was immediately struck by the breadth of the topics covered. “The beautiful thing was they’re not focusing on just modelling or designing. They’re really taking apart the entire industry, from styling, to iconic hairstylists and makeup artists,” she says. “Everyone comes to share their experiences, so it isn’t just one niche.” The skill of the young attendees also struck a chord. Charged with crafting images for their collections and creating mood boards, they showed an enthusiasm that was thoroughly heartening. “The campers are so smart and the projects that they were putting together were so impressive. The amount of creativity that was in the room was incredible,” says Aden who worked hand in hand with a group of students. Members of the group were encouraged to step out of their comfort zone as they presented their ideas in front of a panel of established industry leaders. “It was a big challenge getting up and doing public speaking, really selling themselves. It takes guts to get onstage in front of Ivan Bart (President of IMG Models and Fashion Properties) and talk about your work,” she says. “But what an incredible opportunity for those kids to walk away from those experiences and apply that to their daily lives. To not be afraid to get up in front of a room and own who you are. I wanted to do whatever I could to assist.”
Part of that process included sharing her own experiences as an entrepreneur with the campers. Her first fashion collaboration—a capsule of turbans and shawls created for Turkish brand Modanisa that launched in April—taught her plenty about the business side of fashion. “I [wanted] to walk them through how I picked the company to partner with step by step, tell them about the designers, and all about modest fashion because that’s the area that I work in,” she says. Aden’s unique position in fashion serves as an asset, one she hoped her mentees would learn from. “I’m a Muslim, the first hijab-wearing model and I wanted to share my experiences with them and answer any questions that they had,” she says.
