For Farnoush Hamidian, an Iranian exile and successful model based in Germany, her job isn't just about fashion. It's also a form of protest for the rights of Iranian women back home.
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00:00This Iranian woman is challenging her home country.
00:06I hope for the day that no teenager will be killed because she wants to dance or she wants to talk.
00:17Farnoosh Hamidian walks a line between the glamorous world of fashion and the protests of young women in Iran.
00:26Farnoosh has herself been arrested by the morality police in Iran.
00:35This video shows how the model in exile has become a role model and how she campaigns for young Iranian women.
00:43This is Farnoosh Hamidian. I'm an international Iranian model.
00:54And I live in Germany and I stand for the Iranian women.
01:00Farnoosh is in Paris for Fashion Week where she's meeting with French designer Stéphane Rolland.
01:06He has booked her again for his show and wants to alter the clothes he has designed for her.
01:14Just covering the dress and everything is transparent.
01:18Persian girl out there.
01:22The dress is very revealing. This has a special poignancy for the Iranian exile.
01:28Being a model as an Iranian woman is already an achievement because in my own country it's forbidden by law.
01:38And I was doing it secretly. So the soul of this job for me is a protest already.
01:51She and her three siblings grew up happy in the shadow of Mount Damuvand, a dormant volcano near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran.
02:00She began modeling as a teenager.
02:06In the Islamic Republic, modeling is illegal without a headscarf.
02:10Fashion shows here only take place underground. In public, women have to follow strict rules of attire.
02:16Well, the first time I was arrested by morality police, I was 13. I was just a child.
02:25And I thought I was doing something wrong.
02:29And when I was 16, I was taken, I was assaulted, sexually raped and all of that.
02:39It broke me. It shattered me into so many pieces. It took me decades to put it back together.
02:47In 2014, Farnoosh left her home for Europe.
02:52Although she had studied architecture, she was quickly signed to international modeling agencies.
02:57The Iranian's face is especially popular in the Arabic fashion scene, often appearing on the cover of Vogue Arabia.
03:05She frequently appears at major fashion shows, such as this one in Paris.
03:09The level of freedom, that was the first thing that blew my mind.
03:14At first, when I moved to Europe, I just wanted to put headphones on and sing while walking in the street.
03:22And I felt like people think I might be crazy, but nobody would understand how free I was and what freedom actually meant.
03:35In Iran, this freedom is still only a dream, especially for women.
03:40After 22-year-old Gina Massah Amina was killed in September 2022 for wearing her headscarf improperly,
03:49people took to the streets, risking their lives for a little more freedom.
03:55So that gave me another comeback of my traumas.
03:59And I was like, you know what, I can't see this happening over and over, over and over again.
04:05I need to do something about it.
04:08Farnoosh uses her fame and her Instagram channel to support young women in Iran.
04:13She criticizes, denounces and coordinates help from exile.
04:17She and her parents have been threatened.
04:20She herself cannot return to Iran for fear of being arrested.
04:28I hope that a six-year-old girl won't be scared of showing her hair at school anymore.
04:39It's the modest wish of a strong woman.
04:42Farnoosh Hamidian does what she can to bring a little more freedom to Iran.