IN FEBRUARY OF 2O17, a then 19-year-old Halima Aden quite
literally changed the face of fashion. The Muslim American-Somali,
who spent her early childhood living in a refugee camp, pounded
down the runway for season five of Kanye West’s Yeezy. It wasn’t
the clothes that caught attention though, it was the fact Aden was
wearing a hijab. Two years later, and a wave of hijabi models have
been propelled into the mainstream, appearing on
magazine covers and walking for star labels.
Coverage has been breathlessly enthusiastic,
with Aden the first hijabi model to sign with a major
agency (IMG), quickly followed by British-Somali
Shahira Yusuf (Storm Models, the same agent who
discovered Kate Moss) and Swedish-born,
UK-raised Ikram Abdi Omar (Premier Model
Management). Yet it seems the projected burden of
everything they represent almost eclipses the reason
they were signed to begin with – that they, like the
models who walk with them, are beautiful. Knockout
stunning. Their religion shouldn’t be the point. But it‘s
become a defining feature at a time when Islam
elicits so much coverage fuelled by a limited
understanding of what it really is – particularly now,
against the backdrop of Trump’s blackballing
immigration politics.
“We weren’t represented for ages,” says Dina
Torkia, a pioneer and breakout star of a wave of
Insta-famous Muslim fashion bloggers, with more
than 1.3 million followers. “Social media allows us
to have our own voice, and some of us got so big
that fashion couldn’t ignore it.” Torkia’s right. Headscarves,
turbans and hijabs were de rigueur at the shows this year: Gucci,
Molly Goddard, Versace, Calvin Klein, Chanel and more sent
their models down the runway in “Muslim-ish” headgear. The
argument that the industry was fetishising religious-wear, turning
something deeply meaningful into a throwaway trend, was made
many times. On the other hand, with fashion seeming to be more
inclusive, is this not progress?THERE IS FAR MORE
TO ISLAMIC DRESS
THAN HEADSCARVES,
WRITES NOSHEEN IQBALBEYOND
THE
HIJAB
ELLE VOICETom Ford62
Max MaraPhotography: Jason Lloyd-Evans