Muslim woman promotes Islamic fashion in Miss Minnesota USA pageant

Halima Aden, 19, made the semi-finals of the competition over the weekend while wearing a hijab. She also wore a burqini during the swimsuit competition.

Halima Aden, 19, from St. Cloud, is the first Muslim contestant participating in the Miss Minnesota USA competition to wear modest fashion. Reuters

A Muslim woman has become the first to compete in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in modest dress.

Halima Aden made the semi-finals of the competition over the weekend while wearing a hijab.

She also wore a burqini during the swimsuit competition.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Aden's swim outfit stood in contrast to those of the other 44 contestants, most of whom wore bikinis.

Before the competition, the 19-year-old Somali-American woman told Minnesota Public Radio News that the pageant was “a great platform to show the world who I am.”

According to the 2014-15 Thomson Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (GIER), Muslim consumers spent US$266 billion on clothing and footwear in 2013. The figure is predicted to reach US$484 billion by 2019 and account for 14.4 per cent of global expenditure.

Earlier this year, UK shop Marks & Spencer started selling a “burkini” in its flagship London store and House of Fraser has been selling “sporty hijabs” designed for Muslim women to wear when exercising or swimming.

In 2015, H&M made headlines when it used a Muslim model in a hijab in an advert.

*Associated Press