Thanks to brands like Dolce & Gabbana and YouTube makeup artists like Saraswati, the hijab has been gaining more attention in the fashion and beauty world recently. Clothing brand Uniqlo recently launched a line of hijabs, which are the veils Muslim women wear, specifically for its Middle Eastern customers in Southeast Asia.
When designer Hana Tajima designed the line of hijabs last year, they made Uniqlo one of the first High Street brands to feature the style. Since the line became so popular and was an immediate hit in Southeast Asia, the collection of hijabs has now become available in the United States.
"Now, more than ever, it's important to recognize each other on a human level," Tajima said. "To understand the varied complexities of other lives. As much as it's about providing clothes for Muslin women, it's also about giving an alternative voice in fashion and offering a different aesthetic that embraces women regardless of culture or religion. I think that because clothing is something we all relate to, it can help us find connections with each other."
The UNIQLO x Hana Tajima collection also features long, flowing skirts, tapered ankle-length pants, blouses and of course, the traditional kebayas and hijabs. "This collection fuses contemporary design and comfortable fabrics with traditional values," Uniqlo wrote in a press release.
"We are thrilled to introduce the UNIQLO x Hana Tajima collection to the U.S. market," said Hiroshi Taki, UNIQLO's U.S. CEO. "The collaboration connects Hana's personal style of modest fashion with our LifeWear concept of enhancing people's lives through clothing, including those who value modest wear. Every item from this collection is designed with quality, comfort and style in mind."
"I think in general, having another voice in the fashion industry is important," Tajima said. "There are different ways to approach fashion and bring diversity of life into fashion, to see it represented in a way that feels like we're addressing what's real about the world."
As for the collection becoming available in the U.S. and the U.K., she couldn't be more excited. "It feels fantastic!" she said. "It's one thing having it sort of far away, but I live in New York, and my spiritual home is London, so it's a really special thing to share it with the people I love and people I feel connected to...It's been really overwhelmingly positive. Just the fact that it's gotten so much attention makes me feel like there is support for this other voice, and for other versions of beauty, to make this a more complete conversation."
Since hijabs have been seen in fashion more and more recently, she hopes it stays this way. "I think it's something the industry is slowly waking up to," she added. "It's such a vast market, and it's relatively uncatered to, so it makes sense, especially as more global scale brands are finding ways to relate to their audience on a more genuine level. It's something we'll be seeing a lot more of."
