20-year-old Muslim law student Sara Iftekhar made history by becoming the first hijab-wearing woman to become a Miss England finalist. Despite losing the crown to Miss Newcastle, Sara who represented Huddersfield, became the first Miss England contestant to walk the runway in a hijab.
Acknowledging this record, Sara wrote on Instagram: “I did not expect to be making history. I do feel proud. At the end of the day, I may be the first woman to wear a hijab [at the Miss England final]. However, I am just a regular girl and we all have a fair opportunity in this contest.”
Despite her young age, Sara is both entrepreneurial and giving. Having started her own clothing business at the tender age of 16, Sara has been donating the profits of her business to the Beauty with a Purpose NGO that “supports cleft palate teams in South America, Sri Lanka, and Russia.”
The beauty queen wrote in her crowdfunding page for the NGO: “I participated in Miss 2018 in order to show that beauty doesn’t have a definition, everyone is beautiful in their own ways, regardless of their weight, race, color or shape.”