New York Fashion Week has come and gone and, as usual, it offered the greatest designers in the world a platform on which they could showcase their talents. However, what may be surprising to many is that the hijab, an Islamic garment that is considered one of the most important in Islamic, or modest, fashion, took centre stage.

The many hijabs that were on display at the fashion week came predominantly from Indonesia. These talented designers showed that the garment is much more than many think, as they dazzled onlookers with an array of colourful designs that showed the hijab is completely ready to enter the mainstream of fashion.

The Political Angle

There aren’t many times when politics and fashion mingle. Usually, they stay pretty separate from each other, outside of designers occasionally expressing their viewpoints or creating shows that attempt to highlight a major political or social issue.

But you cannot deny that the emergence of the hijab as a major garment at New York Fashion Week plays quite nicely into the current political climate in the United States. Many observers believe that there is a slowly boiling culture of Islamophobia in the US, at least in some areas. Even the President has added fuel to this fire, particularly with his efforts to ban travel from several Islamic countries.

All of this suggests that Islamic fashion may have a difficult time hitting the mainstream in the United States. New York Fashion Week showed that may not be the case. Yes, there is still a lot of work to be done to help certain pockets of the United States understand Islam and get rid of the prejudices that they hold. However, the designers at the fashion week can hold their heads up high, as their work helped Islamic fashion, and by extension Islam itself, take one small step towards the mainstream.

In the United States’ current political climate, that is a very big achievement.

This political attitude shone throughout the show as well, with many Islamic designers looking to make statements with their shows. Dian Pelangi, a 26-year old designer from Indonesia, may have put it best when she addressed President Donald Trump directly after her own showcase. She said: “Mr. President, I love your country and also I love your people, and we will not (do) anything to you or your people. We are all the same, it’s about humanity.”

It’s a simple message of love and peace, which is more important than ever in what seems to be an increasingly hostile world.

She continued, adding: “I love the US every much and I have a lot of clients here. Hijab is beautiful, we are all still human no matter what religion you are. We are still the same.”

I’m sure that’s a sentiment that many of the people reading this will agree with. New York Fashion Week wasn’t just a showcase for the hijab. It was a platform that Islamic designers used to showcase the fact that their culture is not so different to any other.

Here at Jubbas, we offer a wide range of hijabs from some leading designers. Browse our collection and we’re sure you’ll find something to suit your tastes.