Meet the 22yr Old Muslim model who poses topless in American Apparel

Maks, the 22-year-old Muslim model who poses topless in American Apparel’s new ‘Made in Bangladesh’ campaign, has opened up about her decision to star in the ad.

‘I was fully comfortable with the photo shoot and went with it,’ Maks, who does not wish to reveal her last name, exclusively tells MailOnline.

The Los Angeles-based retail strategist, who decided to ‘distance’ herself from Islam in high school, says that she saw the campaign as an opportunity to show how ‘all women should feel strong and powerful no matter what their background or what they were taught they had to be.‘

‘We should all be able to freely express ourselves no matter where we come from,’ she added.

Maks, who poses in only a pair of American Apparel high-waist jeans continued: ‘I fully support the message of the ad. I love and embrace all cultures and religions. I am choosing to be creative and expressing myself freely.’

The campaign, which was released last week and will be featured in Vice’s U.S. and Canadian editions, is intended to speak more to Maks’s Bangladeshi heritage than her religious affiliation – or lack thereof.