To learn more, we spoke to an anonymous
woman to understand more about the
situation:
"In Islam, we follow the instructions for life
from the Quran (the Holy Book). Specific
commands are given in the Quran such as
not consuming pork or alcohol, and Allah
also tells MEN and women to be modest in
their dress."
"This modesty for men and women is
to wear loose clothing so you can't see
the shape of the body. There are other
conditions too but obviously one of them is
for women to cover their hair."
She goes on to say, " The hijab is supposed
to elevate women, for them not to be looked
at as just a sexual being but for her to be
appreciated for her intellect before her
beauty. It is not supposed to be used for
oppression either, the woman must freely
choose to cover herself without force or
coercion."
"The problem we have now is that
Muslim women, in general, have a lot of
spending power. Which multi-million-pound
companies have cottoned on to, designer
brands have previously released modest
dresses and headscarves in their ranges. The
hijab was never meant to be a thing which
was about making money! Yes, of course,
women love clothes and will always spend
money on them but the flaunting of it as
such was not meant to be."
"I just wish rich fat cats wouldn't make
money off things that are holy to people,
(not just in Islam) just because they feel like
there is an emerging market to exploit."
Simply put, the fashion industry using
hijabs is comparable to bringing a vegan
a milk chocolate-filled cake over for their
birthday. They had the best intentions but
ultimately, without doing any research, it's
just not really a cool thing to do!
14
ISSUE 100 / 2017
FASHION
Following the uproar of Nike producing headscarves as part of their new sports range aimed at Muslim women, the
fashion industry has struck again, splitting opinions on the use of hijabs on the catwalk.
WHAT DOES A MUSLIM WOMAN THINK ABOUT HEADS-
CARVES ON THE CATWALK