Hijab has become increasingly available, varied and accepted as a form of artistic expression. Amenakin traces its recent contemporary history.
Image: Pearl Daisy Ltd Facebook page
Ten years ago, a visit to a shop to buy a hijab would have told you that there was little variety on offer. Certainly when I first donned hijab almost seven years ago, the only places I found scarves to my liking were established high street brands. Though these were filled with the colour and diversity I desired in my headscarves, they sorely lacked in the types of fabrics suited to headscarves.
As a result, I tended to wear large, heavy scarves or light, size-restricted hijabs that caused me to be extra wary of sudden gusts of wind. Not a travesty by any stretch of the imagination, but it does illustrate how cultural preferences may have shaped how headscarves are worn and adapted in different communities. If one hijabi was experiencing a desire for more colourful hijabs suited to a Western wardrobe, there were many more seeking the same variety.
The modestwear and “hijab fashion” industry was, at that time, largely limited to Middle Eastern boutiques, with limited accessibility to the general high street level buyer in the West. This compelled me to set up my own brand, Pearl Daisy, when I realised the huge demand from viewers of my YouTube channel – many of whom became the first customers of my store. Even as a new entrepreneur, I could quickly see the trends within this industry. The hijab fashion industry was about to grow – and fast.
The setup and growth of my company actually coincided with a general growth spurt in the hijab fashion world. The social media world exploded with new hijabi fashion and hijab style bloggers, all keen to showcase their take on modestwear and head coverings. What I observed was far more than a need for variety in head coverings – this was just a side note. In fact, what became apparent is that Muslim women are not a monolith. Whilst the more prevalent depiction at that time was of a stereotypical Muslim woman in “Arab” attire, the overall growth in the number of hijab-wearing women in the West means that there is no longer one image that can possibly represent Muslim women.
For as long as there has been cultural diversity, Muslim communities have expressed hijab (and other garments) within their own cultural parameters. From the Indian dupatta to the African turban style, the head covering has taken on many forms. Of course, as the Muslim population has grown in the West, naturally other styles of hijab would have evolved within those communities – spreading, evolving and adapting to the preferences of hijabis living there. From leopard print hijabs to cute little brooches pinning down delicate fabrics, the headscarf has never before been expressed in such diverse forms.
Often there is a degree of hesitancy within some Muslim communities, and indeed by some hijabis themselves, to associate the term “hijab” with “fashion”. After all, adopting the hijab is, in the simplest terms, done for the sake of God and therefore a sacred act. How then can it be an act of appeasing the fashion industry? However, it is undeniable that if fashion is to be understood by the dictionary definition of a “prevailing custom or style of dress”, then hijab can never be fashionable, since it has never been a part of the mainstream (Western) fashion industry. Perhaps this will change one day – only God knows.
Regardless of whether the hijab as a head covering will ever become a norm in the Western world, it will continue to be adapted by Muslim women who find themselves building an identity here. If art is to be understood as expression, then it is plausible that the array of hijab styles seen amongst Muslim women is itself an art form. This notion inspired photographer Sara Shamsavari, who compiled her book London Veil after being inspired by the creativity exhibited by the hijab wearers she encountered on the streets of London.[i]
Whether or not hijab is celebrated or acknowledged within the Western world, the industry will surely continue to thrive as more and more women – both Muslim and non-Muslim – make that significant decision to adorn themselves with hijab. For them, their headscarf and modest clothing fuses with their identity, changing it while becoming itself changed.
[i] Homa Khaleeli, ‘Lifting the veil on London’s stylish hijab wearers’, The Guardian, 6 Mar 2013, available here
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