A humble soul who started modelling at the age of 13, this Filipina-Emirati gives light to women as she beams through fashion.
Meet Kate Aaliyah, a 20-year-old Filipina Arab, who is currently an artist in the Philippines and a former model in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
She was raised in both Emirati and Filipino cultures, and her unique upbringing inspired her in becoming a woman of talent and kindness.
According to Kate, a lot of her traits and qualities were derived from the diverse experiences of the people she met while growing up in the UAE.
As early as she was eight months old, Kate’s family moved from the Philippines to Dubai. Her Filipina mother is the woman Kate honors the most.
In an interview with The Filipino Times, Kate said, “My mom’s a Filipina. I adore her and my father so much. While I go on with my life, I look forward to making them proud and spoiling them with what they couldn’t have.”
UAE Fashion World
From looking at women at magazines, listening to music, or watching television, to winning pageants, and wearing gowns from multi-award-winning fashion designer Michael Cinco, Kate continued to build more networks while staying grounded.
Kate studied in the UAE and graduated in the American International school. For her, “fashion is the language of expressing yourself through the art of appearance…it truly does help empower a woman as there are times where we can’t say too much about ourselves, so we let our clothes do the talking.”
Philippine Entertainment
Apart from modelling, Kate is also a great singer and a creative songwriter. She recently signed a contract with a Philippine-based talent agency that homes a huge pool of Filipino stars.
For Kate, music is a big part of her life where she resorts to when things get rough and where she freely expresses herself.
At present, Kate is staying in her mother’s homeland where she started taking up basic acting workshops and working with other talented artists, as well as highly respected directors.
Breaking the Bias
Women’s representation and gender diversity in various fields is one of the levers to drive gender equality. Yet women are significantly underrepresented in numerous sectors.
When The Filipino Times asked Kate how she was able to break the bias, she said, “Bias can’t just be erased, unfortunately, but it shouldn’t be the focus. There are more blessings to focus on, as being a woman is a gift.”
She revealed that the challenge for her is how people look down and disregard her efforts in the field, but Kate chose to live life the way she wanted and push herself towards good words and people.
Self-love
For Kate, strong and beautiful can mean many things, but to become both, she believes that it is important to understand the value of self-love and knowing yourself well enough so as not to give people the power to affect you with negativity.
Consequently, Kate wanted to impart the message to women to “be kind and give back the smiles that strangers give you.”
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