Iowa teenager Ugbad Abdi had just graduated from high school in Des Moines last year when she got a message on Instagram that would change her life.
Ms. Abdi, who had been posting shots of herself in different makeup looks, had drawn the attention of a top modeling agency. But it wasn’t just her striking looks or her height that made her compelling. Ms. Abdi also happens to be a Somali-born Muslim who wears a hijab—which made her even more compelling.
“There are women in the world that look like Ugbad and dress like Ugbad and our business of fashion should really be concerned with addressing all people that consume clothes and beauty,” said Kyle Hagler, president of the New York division of Next Management, which signed her last year.
Increasingly, the fashion business is showcasing models with a wider range of ethnicities, races, sizes and ages, finding it makes business sense to better reflect a customer base that has long been more diverse than the models featured on runways. Ms. Abdi’s rapid ascent is a prime example: In less than a year, she went from Iowa high schooler to fashion It girl.
In January, she made an attention-getting runway debut at Valentino’s couture show in Paris. Since then, she has walked the runway for brands including Burberry , Chanel, Fendi and Marc Jacobs. She was in Vogue in April, August and its all-important September issue.
During New York Fashion Week earlier this month, Michael Kors booked her exclusively for his show, where she modeled the opening look. She went on to walk the runways of Burberry, London Fashion Week’s biggest show, for a second time, and then in Milan at Max Mara and Fendi. The 19-year-old is currently at Paris Fashion Week, which ends Oct. 1, and has appeared in big shows including Lanvin and Dries Van Noten.
Ms. Abdi and her agency embrace her Muslim faith, explaining to casting directors, stylists, and photographers that her religious observance means she won’t wear skin-baring clothing or reveal her hair.
“Ugbad’s grace on the runway or in front of the camera is evident, but that is only part of what makes her an exceptional model,” said Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and artistic director and global content adviser of Condé Nast. “From the beginning, she has used her platform to challenge stereotypes about Muslim women and open doors for others.”
Few people are more surprised by her sudden rise than Ms. Abdi herself, who has retained a teenage awe while navigating her ascent. “I’m in American Vogue Couture Story while wearing my hijab?!!?!,” she posted to Instagram in March. She had never been to New York until last year, when she met with agency executives to talk about signing on. “From there, everything happened,” she said, describing the entire experience as “amazing.”
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She recalls the giddy moment while riding through New York’s Union Square in a car with her agent when she saw herself in an ad for Fendi plastered on a giant billboard. “I almost freaked out,” she said. She later went back to take photos, including one of her looking at herself in the ad, which she posted to Instagram. “That was a big moment for me,” she said. “I had to post that.”
“Everything that has happened so far to this moment, it’s like, all a dream come true,” Ms. Abdi said in an interview after the Michael Kors show. “I always get emotional,” she said while tearing up. “It’s good to see that people want to see change. It’s an honor to have a voice and maybe educate some people who didn’t know anything about the hijab before. I feel like this is a journey for everyone. ”
The fashion industry’s efforts to diversify have been slow to evolve. In the 1970s, several black models became popular, alongside civil-rights activism and the “Black is Beautiful” movement. In 1974, Beverly Johnson became the first black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue. Iman achieved stardom starting in the mid-’70s, followed by Naomi Campbell, Veronica Webb and Tyra Banks in the ’80s and ’90s. But the dominant look in modeling remained white, as well as young and thin.
More East Asian models began to appear on runways beginning in 2011, as China’s economy opened up. In 2017, plus-sized model Ashley Graham appeared in a Michael Kors show, paving the way for other curvier models.
At the same time, a growing number of mainstream clothing brands, from lingerie brand Aerie to department store Macy’s , have been featuring more diverse women in their advertising, positioning diversity as a selling point. And beauty brands’ advertising and social-media campaigns now feature more celebrities, models and influencers of color, fueled in part by the launch of Rihanna’s inclusive Fenty Beauty by Rihanna line in 2017.
Of 221 major fashion shows held in February and March in New York, London, Milan and Paris, nearly 40% of the models cast were nonwhite, a record, according to theFashionSpot, a fashion blog that has tracked model diversity since late 2014. More plus-size, older and transgender and nonbinary models have appeared on catwalks in recent seasons.
“Inclusion is happening right now and may it continue,” said Bethann Hardison, one of the pioneering black runway models of the 1970s.
Business reasons underlie the changes. Modest fashion, for instance, represents a big opportunity, especially in the Middle East. Muslim spending on clothing is expected to reach $361 billion by 2023, according to Thomson Reuters.
Ms. Abdi’s family fled from war-torn Somalia to a Kenyan refugee camp when she was small. A U.N. refugee agency relocated her family to Des Moines when she was 9. In high school, people encouraged the tall, thin teen to look into modeling. She admired Iman, also from Somalia, and Halima Aden, a hijab-wearing Muslim model IMG signed in 2017.
After she signed with Next, the agency was upfront with industry professionals about Ms. Abdi’s wish to keep her head covered and not wear revealing clothing.
Casting director Patrizia Pilotti tapped Ms. Abdi for her debut at the Valentino couture show. “We didn’t book her because she was Muslim. We booked her because she was beautiful,” she said.
Soon after, major industry pros clamored to book her. Piergiorgio Del Moro, who cast her in Fendi, Max Mara, Michael Kors and other shows, called her “so elegant and special” and said “she was confirmed right away” for a Fendi ad campaign. “Whether it’s size or age or background, gender, religion, I don’t think it should be a stumbling block for a designer to make people look remarkable,” said Mr. Kors.
“People have been getting really creative with things, designing certain scarves for me, which is really nice,” said Ms. Abdi. “They sometimes put a lot of hats on me. So it’s really like we can do anything.”
As Fashion Seeks More Diversity, New Models Stand Out
Adwoa Aboah Freckled faced, with a buzzcut and a jeweled tooth, Ms. Aboah has walked the runway for labels including Chanel and Dior and appeared in campaigns for brands including Burberry, Chanel, Giorgio Armani and Revlon. She is also a contributing editor at British Vogue, and founded an online platform for young women called Gurls Talk.
Valentina Sampaio The 22-year-old transgender model from Brazil made a splash over the summer when she was hired as Victoria’s Secret first trans model. She joins a growing number of transgender models being tapped by fashion and cosmetics brands. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris in 2017 and signed deals with brands including L’Oréal and Dior beauty.
JoAni Johnson The 67-year-old model has appeared in shows for brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Deveaux New York and starred in campaigns for brands including Sephora and Rihanna’s Fenty. A casting agent saw a 2016 photo of her by a street style photographer and cast her in an Allure video on aging gracefully that went viral. A new modeling agency signed her soon after.
Anok Yai The 21-year-old, Egyptian-born and of Sudanese descent, has become a rising star and part of a wave of darker-skinned models of African descent expanding the range of brown skin shades on runways. In a Vogue YouTube interview, Anna Wintour singled out Ms. Yai and Ms. Abdi as having “had very very strong seasons” for the Fall 2019 shows.
Paloma Elsesser Influential fashion makeup artist Pat McGrath selected Ms. Elsesser, while studying at the New School, to star as a muse for her new makeup line in 2016. The 27-year-old has since appeared in fashion magazines, on runways and in campaigns.
Write to Ray A. Smith at ray.smith@wsj.com
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