Ugbad Abdi and Sister Hani Go Bold by Luigi & Iango for Vogue Arabia April 2022

Top hijabi model Ugbad Abdi covers the April 2022 issue of Vogue Arabia, blazing into view in a bold pink jacket accented by equally bold and sculptural statement jewelry. Gaultier Desandre Navarre [IG] styled his first cover story for Vogue, and Ugbad’s sister Hani is also featured in the project that celebrates Ramadan and spotlights family bonds.

Star photographers Luigi & Iango [IG] are behind the lens for ‘Sister Act’. In this moment, we cannot find jewelry credits anywhere on Vogue Arabia, but we’re working on it. Much of the jewelry is just fabulous. / Hair by Sasha Nesterchuk; makeup by Sil Bruinsma

Ugbad Abdi is Lensed by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue Arabia October 2019 AOC Fashion

Abdi is beloved at Vogue Arabia and by many photographers, including the late and legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh.

Vogue ME issued a commemorative tribute to Lindbergh, leading with the photographer’s wonderful images of Ugbad Abdi in New York City.

It was one of Lindbergh’s final fashion shoots, images that captured the Kismayo, Somalia to Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp to Des Moines, Iowa USA rising star model status in the global fashion community.

Ugbad Abdi is one of many ‘refugee models’ who have dominated fashion in recent years. In the words of the staggeringly successful supermodel Adut Akech, “I will always be a refugee.” We add that it’s a self-chosen label that Adut wears with love for her home country of South Sudan but also with sorrow for the struggle her people have endured.