Barbie has finally been given a hijab, inspired by, an American fencer who competed in last year’s Olympics while wearing a hijab, Ibtihaj Muhammad.

The doll is part of the Barbie “Shero” line that honours exceptional women who break boundaries; Past dolls have included gymnast Gabby Douglas and Selma director Ava DuVernay.

Ibtihaj Muhammad posted on the social media that she was “proud” young people would be able to play with “a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab!”

According to Mirror.co.uk, hen Mittel told Ibtihaj that they were planning to create a Barbie in her honour, she cried.

And after that, she made a few requests – that Barbie wear dark eyeliner, have big, strong legs, and that she wear the hijab

It’s something I wear like I wear a shirt or I wear pants,’ she says. She says that she hopes children will ‘take it off and try it on their other Barbies’.

The initial prototype was dressed in a white padded fencing outfit which had ‘Muhammad’ printed in black letter across the back and was wearing a removable helmet which revealed her hijab.

Ibtihaj asked for the fabric to be made thicker so that it was opaque. The Ibtihaj Barbie is part of Barbie’s Shero collection which aims to encourage children to be anything they want to be.

She has chalked up a number of firsts: she’s the first American to compete at the Olympics while wearing a hijab, she’s the first female Muslim to win a medal at the Olympics, having won bronze at Rio in 2016.

See twitter post by Ibtihaj Muhammad :

Thank you @Mattel for announcing me as the newest member of the @Barbie #Shero family! I’m proud to know that little girls everywhere can now play with a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab! This is a childhood dream come true ?? #shero pic.twitter.com/py7nbtb2KD

— Ibtihaj Muhammad (@IbtihajMuhammad) November 13, 2017