Americans who wear a hijab, covering the hair and neck, are sometimes viewed as foreigners on their home turf. New Yorker Sarah Musa, a technical designer for an American fashion and lifestyle company, entered the American Hijab Design Contest to help change that.
In the competition’s Chicago finale last weekend, Musa won the grand prize for her quilted shirtdress in a camel color, worn with a turtleneck, knitted hat, slim pants and boots.
Yes, a knitted hat with a turtleneck can constitute a hijab.
“If you really study Shariah, Islamic law — rather than what Fox News says Shariah is — women just have to be covered,” said Musa, the daughter of a Christian mother and Muslim father who committed to Islam in her teens. “So whether you use a hat and turtleneck, or funk it out with a turban style, it’s still a hijab. In Saudi Arabia they might wear black. But in America we may choose to wear jeans and jean jackets. The creativity is limitless as long as she meets modesty guidelines. Basically everything is covered but the hands and face.”
Contest creator Shaz Kaiseruddin, a human rights attorney and fashionista in Chicago, challenged entrants, whether amateurs or professional designers, to create hijab styles that look as distinctly American as bluejeans.
Musa, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, interpreted the contest’s challenge with a clean, streamlined ensemble that takes cues from American sportswear.
“You don’t often hear the word comfort in high fashion. It’s superhigh heels, fitted clothes, that make a woman feel restricted at the end of the day,” Musa said. “If you have a little belly, I don’t want to say this (ensemble) is forgiving, because there’s nothing to ‘forgive.’ This A-line shape is good for all body types. And this Japanese organic cotton quilted fabric, you feel invincible in it, and look so chic.”
Musa’s sister Miriam modeled the design in the contest; their mother Yuncha Hong came from Ohio to attend.
“My sister doesn’t cover usually, but when she wore this, she felt confident and comfortable,” Musa said. “I want to make a woman feel liberated, regardless of her faith.”
The design grand prize includes a trip to Dubai.
Contest judges included Rhymefest, a Kanye West collaborator; Shireen Soliman, who teaches at Parsons The New School for Design in New York; Aminah McCloud, director of DePaul University’s Islamic World Studies program; Derek Khan, who guest-judged “America’s Next Top Model"; and designer Nailah Lymus, who also founded a modeling agency for covering Muslims called Underwraps.
The contest finalists are posted at americanhijabdesign.com.