It’s hard out there for the hijabi.
But proving once and for all that one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure, history was made at New York Fashion Week when Islamic designer Anniesa Hasibuan sent all her models down the runway wearing hijabs.
The Muslim designer, 28, received a standing ovation after the show. After a summer of “burkini bans” and an apparent uptick in Islamophobic violence targeting women, it’s been a brighter few weeks for hijab wearers.
While on the runways of NYC, bedazzled head-scarves were applauded and envied by Muslim and atheist fashionistas alike, female police officers in Turkey were, for the first time, allowed to wear head scarves with their uniform. Worldwide, Islamic fashion is seeing a mini revolution spurred by fashion houses and social media starlets.
With day two of Paris Fashion Week in full swing, will hijabs be seeing a French couture incarnation this week? Will the burkini- banned in 30 towns in France over the summer—make an appearance on the catwalk?
After all, at Milan Fashion Week last week, the first made-in-Italy burkini—a colorful three-part outfit consisting of a leggings, jacket and a cap designed by Raffaela D’Angelo—was unveiled.
‘First Italian burkini’ unveiled at Milan Fashion Week – Al Arabiya English https://t.co/vxKwBvN6XU
— SAID SADEK (@saidsadek) September 27, 2016
If the French can make smoking and refined carbohydrates chic, then why not a burka?
Some conservative Muslims fear that Islamic values are being contaminated by commercialism. But for many Muslims, there’s nothing wrong with making modesty glamorous. The way they see it, God simply specified that you shouldn’t see skin, so they embrace the appearance of hijabs on the runway as powerful a sign of acceptance and integration.
But the hijab continues to be an issue of contention even in cosmopolitan countries. During London Fashion Week, for example, two women were de-planed at Stansted airport after fellow passengers accused them of being ISIS affiliates apparently simply because of their headscarves. One woman’s fashion statement is another woman’s symbol of fundamentalism.
To cover or not to cover: I don’t envy Muslim women this particular wardrobe dilemma. Is the decision religious or cultural? Can one, in all good conscience, be both stylish and spiritual? And if she does wear one, is it hypocritical to wear a scarf that costs $2,000 and was designed by two gay males?
An all-hijab show has made history at Fashion Week https://t.co/9Ws06snM4L via @StylistMagazine #fashionweek #anniesahasibuan
— Susan Craig (@SusanC_tweets) September 24, 2016
It’s a distinctly modern female dilemma, but I don’t see many feminists jumping to support other women’s right to wear a hijab (perhaps, as movements like Slutwalk prove, we’re more keen to defend a female’s right to wear hotpants and nipple tassels).
Regardless of the reasons that the woman herself is wearing it, these days her hijab seems to stand for something bigger to everyone else around her, a canvas on to which we collectively project our insecurities. Patriarchal oppression, to some. Commodification of spirituality, to others. To others, a philosophy we don’t understand, perhaps even fear.
Louise Mensch recently wrote on this site in defense of Botox. While some call it self-mutilation Louise looked at it as a power move, a personal weapon for self-confidence. Of course botox and burkas are at opposite ends of the spectrum, but I support a women’s right to deploy either as she sees fit and feels empowered by.
With Paris Fashion Week underway, French stylistas should take a cue from New York and empower ALL women to wear whatever they want.
It all comes down to individual choice. Because guess what? “Women” are not a homogeneous bulk. I hazard to guess that most Americans, wouldn’t give a standing ovation for modesty nor for Islam—but we will give one every damn time for a person’s right to proudly wear whatever the f**k she wants and look like a boss bitch while doing so.
