Born in Somalia and raised in a Kenyan refugee camp and Des Moines, Iowa, she debuted as a Valentino haute couture model, then opened shows for Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors at New York Fashion Week.
[3] Her family fled the Somali Civil War, first to a refugee camp in Kenya, then in 2009, when Abdi was nine years old, to Des Moines, Iowa with the help of UNICEF.
[4][5] Shortly after graduating from high school in Des Moines, Abdi was scouted on Instagram.
[8] She has opened New York Fashion Week shows for Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors.
[9][7] In April 2019, she appeared in British, American, and Arabian editions of Vogue simultaneously.