Hijab Fashion In New York

By Kathleen O’Sullivan

New York Fashion Week took place from September 8th to the 15th and showcased the new trends for the Autumn/ Winter season (A/W). There was no lack of cultural and human awareness this year with shows like Jeans for Refugees taking prime positions in the week’s hectic schedule.

History was made as a designer, for the first time ever, had all her models wearing hijabs. The show received a standing ovation from the audience, people of both Islamic faith and non-Islamic faith have remarked positively of the event online.

Sanober Farheen Memon is from Pakistan, currently doing a PhD in Electronic Engineering in UL, and is of Islamic faith, said: “Wearing the scarf is considered very important in our religion. When we wear it, we feel more peaceful, respectful and closer to Allah. Girls see the wearing of it in our culture by their mothers, aunts and cousins and they start wearing it.

“I really liked the wearing of the scarves in the show. The way the models wore the scarf and the dress-up was very nice. It is that fashion that we can also adopt.

“Sometimes when we watch these fashion weeks and the style of the outfits being worn cannot be adopted by us according to our religion. We feel comfortable in the clothes we wear and usually in fashion shows we do not see those type of things.

“I really like that our dress is being promoted. Often the girls we see wearing the hijabs are not into the modelling field, so if the train goes with that, I think more of those girls will be able to go into modelling.

“I am very proud to wear the scarf. As I said, when we wear it we feel more at peace with ourselves. No matter what else we have in our lives, if we do not have peace it is pointless.”