American model Gigi Hadid graces the cover of the first ever issue of Vogue Arabia, which launches this month.
The 21-year-old, who was born in America to a Dutch-born American mother and a Palestinian-American father, wears a sequined and beaded headscarf in the two versions of the cover - one in Arabic and the other in English.
Sharing the cover image on her Instagram, Hadid said being able to able to celebrate and share different cultures was a "beautiful thing".
"Being half-Palestinian, it means the world to me to be on the first-ever cover(s) of @vogue Arabia, and I hope that this magazine will show another layer of the fashion industry's desire to continue to accept, celebrate, and incorporate all people & customs and make everyone feel like they have fashion images and moments they can relate to...& learn and grow in doing so," she wrote.
The magazine's editor-in-chief, Saudi princess Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, called Hadid "Gigi of Arabia" and "the perfect Cover Girl", adding: "In one poised photograph, [Hadid] communicates a thousand words to a region that's been waiting far too long for its Vogue voice to speak."
"There’s no better first ‘face’ to lead the charge for Vogue Arabia than Gigi, a model who defines tomorrow’s entrepreneurial and dynamic generation."
The photos were shot by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and have been described as being styled in a “uniquely Arabian way”.
The choice of Hadid as the cover model has prompted a mixed reaction on social media.
Others were surprised by all the fuss and defended Hadid and the magazine.
Vogue Arabia, is the 22nd edition of the fashion and beauty magazine to be launched by Condé Nast, and will be distributed in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
