Rawdah Mohamed is a Norwegian- Somali model,

Instagram model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...

, blogger, healthcare professional and activist. She is known for her street style modelling and also regarded as a prominent advocate for the rights of Muslim women. She is currently represented by the model management company

The Society Management The Society Management is a model management company based in New York City, and is the official U.S. division of the Elite World network. It is also the U.S. branch of the Elite Model Look contest. Models The following models & talent are curr ...

. In April 2021, she started the hashtag campaign #Handsoffmyhijab, which became trending in social media.

Biography

Rawdah was born in Somalia and started wearing a headscarf at the age of seven. She moved to Norway with her family at the age of eight and pursued her primary education. In Norway, she was subjected to racism, abuse, and bullying by her fellow school classmates especially for wearing a hijab and for her skin colour.

Career

She initially pursued her career as a social media personality and now has over 200,000 followers on Instagram. In addition, she had served as a healthcare professional working with children who were affected with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. Rawdah has also worked as a behavioral analyst dealing with mentally disabled people. She had engaged in modelling campaigns in Arab style prior to engaging as a model in various western fashion shows such as Oslo Fashion Week,

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (french: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. ...

Copenhagen Fashion Week Copenhagen Fashion Week is an international fashion event, held twice a year in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quart ...

and Norwegian celebrity gala Kjendisgallaen. She pursued her international street style career at the Oslo Fashion Week in August 2019,which was deemed as a turning point in her modelling career where she adapted to western style of modelling. During Oslo Fashion Week 2019, she was acknowledged for her intriguing street style. Rawdah revealed that she faced humiliation and rejections, especially in the fashion industry, whereas clients were hesitant to give her opportunity to feature in Paris Fashion Week citing outrage and backlash from French politicians. She made her maiden appearance on a magazine cover in August 2019 when she appeared on the cover of Norwegian fashion magazine Costume Norge. Since then, Rawdah has also appeared in front pages of prominent publications and editorials such as ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and ''V Magazine'' in US as well as Arab editions. She also notably took part in social media protest against the French Senate's decision to ban Muslim girls under the age of 18 from wearing a headscarf in public places by initiating hashtag campaign #Handsoffmyhijab. She posted her selfie on Instagram with the phrase "hands off my hijab" being written on her hand, criticising the proposed

French ban on face covering The French ban on face covering (french: LOI n° 2010-1192: Loi interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public, "Law of 2010-1192: Act prohibiting concealment of the face in public space") is an act of parliament passed by the Senate ...

for minors. In May 2021, she was officially named as the editor of upcoming magazine Vogue Scandinavia, which is set to be launched soon. She will thus become the first hijab-wearing editor of colour for a fashion magazine.

Controversies

She was mainstream media attention in Norway when she posted a series of negative comments towards

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

as responses to the news of her death. Mohamed announced that she was celebrating the Queen's death, and followed up with a number of offensive outbursts directed at the Queen, who had just passed away.

References

{{Authority control Living people Norwegian female models Somalian female models Norwegian women activists Norwegian bloggers Somalian bloggers Norwegian women bloggers Somalian women bloggers Somalian women activists Somalian expatriates in Norway Year of birth missing (living people)