Somali-American model Halima Aden is set to become the first woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a burkini, the BBC reported Monday ahead of the magazine's annual swimsuit issue.

"Young girls who wear a hijab should have women they look up to in any and every industry. We are now seeing politicians, business women, television reporters, and other successful hijabi women in visible roles and that is the message we need to be sending,” Aden told the BBC. “The response has been incredible and I'm so honored that Sports Illustrated has taken the step to showcase the beauty that modestly dressed women possess."

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Aden, 21, grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, moved to the U.S. at the age of 7 and began wearing the hijab shortly thereafter, according to the BBC. She was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Miss Minnesota pageant, where she was the first participant to wear the Islamic head covering.

She was the first hijabi model to appear on the cover of a major U.S. magazine when she graced the front of Allure in summer 2017.

The burkini, designed by an Australian Muslim woman to allow women in religious garb to go to the beach, was banned in several French cities in 2016 before the ban was overturned by France’s high court.