DUBAI: Rawdah Mohamed knows all about delivering a head-turning style moment. The Somali-born model who is based in Finland, has amassed a loyal legion of Instagram followers, mainly followers of modest fashion, who flock to her page for bold style inspiration.
Indeed, whether she’s rocking a mesh, chainmail headdress over her hijab during Paris Fashion Week or sporting dramatic eyewear during an off-duty stroll around the city, the 27-year-old stands out for her unconventional and glamorous sartorial choices that constantly redefine the meaning of modest dressing.
Her most recent look is no exception. Mohamed was photographed at Norwegian celebrity gala Kjendisgallaen 2019 earlier this week wearing a head-to-toe white look that oozed resplendence. The regal ensemble was plucked from Lebanese couturier-to-the-stars Nicolas Jebran’s Spring 2019 “Beyond Infinity” collection.
The show-stopping gown was the perfect mixture of elegance and modesty, boasting a high neckline, flowy, floor-trailing train and billowing, caped sleeves. The Oslo-based beauty, who started wearing the head scarf when she was seven-years-old, paired the look with coordinating long, fitted gloves and a sparkling, ivory veil that was neatly tucked into the gown.
The dress is “directed towards the daring yet unique women of the 21st century,” Jebran told Arab News. “The simplicity in the fabric (and) the complexity in the design gives the woman wearing it different kind of power, the power to impose, to impress and to lead with all the embedded femininity within.”
Sharing a picture of herself alongside a striking black-and-white clip from the event with her 51,700 Instagram followers, Mohamed wrote: “All hail! Your Majesty showed up to a red carpet in @nicolasjebranworld. Thank you @nicolasjebran for dressing me and making me look like the Highness I feel on the inside.”
Mohamed, a healthcare professional who works with autistic children, first caught the attention of model scouts during Oslo Fashion Week 2019 due to her striking features and intriguing style. She is currently represented by Norwegian modeling agency Idol Look.
She’s also appeared on the pages of publications like the US and Arab editions of Vogue as well as V Magazine, in addition to landing her first magazine cover with Norway-based Costume Norge back in August.
The model spoke to V Magazine in March, explaining that her time in the fashon industry so far had been challenging.
“I really wanted (fashion) to be a place where I could just be myself and everyone would just accept me for who I am,” she said. “I was very sad to realize that, no, this is yet another place where I still have to fight to be me and to be able to free to dress however I like and to look however I like.”
Mohamed joins the unprecedented lineup of other ground-breaking hijab-wearing faces pushing for inclusivity in the fashion industry, such as Somali-American model Halima Aden, Egyptian-Ivorian Kadija Diawara and breakout star of the 2019 runways Ugbad Abdi, to name but a few.
