Runway model Gigi Hadid will be the first cover girl for Vogue Arabia, the newest member of the Vogue fashion magazine family, debuting March 5th.
Hadid, photographed in black and white, is wearing a jeweled veil in picture, posted to her Instagram page. Her neck, arms and shoulders appear to be bare.
In the accompanying note, Hadid, whose father is Palestinian and a practicing Muslim says she hopes the magazine can be a bridge between American and Muslim culture.
Hadid claims the new publication “will show another layer of the fashion industry’s desire to continue to accept, celebrate, and incorporate all people & customs and make everyone feel like they have fashion images and moments they can relate to… & learn and grow in doing so.”
Reaction to the magazine has been mixed. Some writers, like Teen Vogue‘s Eman Bare, raved about the new magazine, saying that the photo was a powerful political statement in “Trump’s America,” and that the “fashion capitol,” the Middle East, has been “vilified to the point of being watered down to nothing more than wars and violence.”
But others accused Hadid of cultural appropriation, because while her heritage is Middle Eastern, she hasn’t been outspoken about political issues centering around the Muslim world.
But while the timing does seem particularly political, the launch of Vogue Arabia may be more a financial decision than an in-your-face message to the current administration.
Over the last several years, Middle Eastern women have become fashion powerhouses, driving not just the sale of clothes, but the design and direction of couture houses. According to Business Insider, spending on “Sharia-complaint” modest clothing has skyrocketed, and expected to reach $484 billion per year by 2019.
The entire United States spends around $395 billion per year on clothing.
As the Islamic interest in fashion has exploded, so has the Muslim-focused fashion industry. There’s now a heavily attended Islamic fashion festival, and plenty of young Muslim women designing and showcasing fashions on runways in New York, Paris and Milan.
But top couture houses like Dolce & Gabbana are also designing specifically for a Muslim consumer – and its been a huge financial boon for these designers. Forbes called the move D&G’s “best move in years.”
It was only a matter of time before fashion journalism extended into the Middle East as well.