Imaan Hammam
Arab women are some of the most beautiful women in the world, so it is no surprise that these women have pursued successful modelling careers.
Yamila Diaz-Rahi
Diaz is a successful Argentinian model with Lebanese roots. Her father is Spanish and Lebanese and her mother is also Spanish. Diaz studied Economics in Buenos Aires (where she was born) and was discovered by a Milan modelling agency while on holiday in Uruguay. She moved to Milan, Italy to pursue her modelling career and since then has starred on the covers of Elle, Glamour, Shape and many more.
Imaan Hammam
Hammam is a beautiful Dutch fashion model of Egyptian and Moroccan descent. Born in Amsterdam, she was also discovered there at Amsterdam’s Central Station by a modelling agent. She debuted her modelling career in Paris by opening the Givenchy show and later appeared on the covers of American, Italian and French Vogue. Hamman has also walked the runways for names like Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Anna Sui, Vera Wang and many more. She also took first place in 2016 for the Couturesque Magazine’s Model of the Year competition. Hammam identifies as being a Muslim and she wants to encourage more Arab women to start modelling.
Hanaa Ben Abdesslem
Abdesslem is an extremely successful Muslim Tunisian model. She studied Engineering before deciding to pursue a career in modelling and made her debut into the modelling world by walking the catwalk in Vivienne Westwood’s London show. Over her career, she has worked for brands like Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Hermes and many more. In 2012, Lancôme signed the model, which made her the first Muslim spokesperson for the brand. Abdesslem is also the spokesperson for NDO Esmaani – an organisation that focuses on providing emotional and psychological support to people in hospitals in poverty-stricken areas. She is also involved in supporting Tunisian youth with her involvement in the NGO, Youth Empowerment development association.
Huda Naccache
Born in Israel, Naccache is an Arab-Israeli model and was the first Arab model to grace the covers of an Arabic magazine in a bikini. At nearly 6-foot-tall, Naccache has the height of a supermodel. She was born to an Arab-Christian family and has certainly had her fair share of controversy from the Arab community after she modelled in a swim suit.
Shanina Shaik
Born and raised in Australia, Shaik has a Pakistani father who was raised in Saudi Arabia and a mother of Australian and Lithuanian heritage. She started her modelling career young – at the age of 8. She has been on many modelling TV shows and on the front of many magazines, such as Seventeen Magazine and Men’s Health. She has signed a couple of New York-based agencies; New York Model Management and NEXT Model Management and has walked many international runways. In 2011, she was selected to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show and since then, she has starred on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Cleo, Vogue India and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, Arabia, Vietnam and Australia.
