Muslim fashion for women exhibition stirs controversy in Germany
Muslim head coverings have always been a controversial topic, as they embody so many issues, whether women’s rights worldwide or Western prejudice and discrimination against Muslims.
Now that the first exhibition dedicated to fashion consciousness of women in Islam is opening at Frankfurt’s Museum Angwandte Kunst, the debate surrounding headscarves has been rekindled in Germany.
Titled “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” and first shown at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, the exhibition, however, does not aim to answer the numerous political and social questions related to hijabs or burkinis.
“The focus of the exhibition is really fashionable modest dress and what we’re trying to show in the exhibition is that there is a lot of choice for the mass of Muslim women,” said Jill D’Alessandro, curator of the “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” exhibition in San Francisco.
“Contemporary Muslim Fashions” is an opulent exhibition that showcases around 80 different styles and outfits. Many items are on loan from Middle Eastern and Asian designers. Caftans, headscarves and colorful designer dresses can be seen alongside the controversial burkini and the sports hijab made by Nike.
Hate mail leads to tightened security
The coordinators of the German exhibition have already started receiving racist hate mail ahead of the opening of the exhibition on Thursday, which is why the Angwandte Kunst museum is introducing bag checks and body searches for the duration of the show, “for the security of all visitors and employees,” museum director Matthias Wagner K told German press agency DPA.
On the other end of the spectrum, weeks ahead of the show, activists who call themselves “Migrants for secularity and self-determination” have published an open letter in German feminist magazine Emma, in which they state that they are “appalled” by the fact that the exhibition is being shown in Frankfurt.
“This exhibition, which supposedly depicts religious dress requirements as fashion, is a slap in the face of domestic and foreign women’s rights activists,” the letter states. The group, composed of Iranian refugees, also reminds people that “Every year, thousands of women in Iran are punished for violating this dress code.”
Yet even if the authors of the open letter say that “describing these dress requirements as ‘modest fashion’ is cynical,” the term wasn’t invented for the exhibition — and it is not about to disappear soon.
Modest fashion can take different forms, as designer Naomi Afia shows with her collection ‘Our Bodies, Our Business’
Trending: #Hijabistas und #mipsterz
The expression “modest fashion” was developed by Muslim fashion designers — a reaction to the contradictory views within the religious community about women and modesty.
It is an industry that has been expanding over the last several years. “Muslim women spend $44 billion (€37 billion) on fashion annually,” says Jill D’Alessandro, and the trend is rising.
The exhibition explores a zeitgeist spurred on by new fashion magazines such as Vogue Arabia, and also by influencers on social networks. There, a new Muslim coolness is being put on show by “hijabistas,” the Muslim answer to “fashionistas,” and so-called “mipsterz,” Muslim hipsters.
Read more: Can Instagram fashionistas help save the planet?
Major brands and designers have long since adopted this trend. In 2015, clothing retailer HM featured a model with a headscarf in an advertisement for the first time. In 2016, fashion company Dolce Gabbana launched a collection for Muslim women. Japanese chain Uniqlo also has its own line for Muslims.
The exhibition also features designs by Oscar De La Renta and Dolce Gabbana: Western designers who are also orienting themselves towards Muslim fashion.
Read more: Fashion’s marketing to Muslim women draws ire in France
Some of the designs featured make political statements, like this bomber jacket with the US Constitution scripted on the back
New perspectives
The idea for the exhibition came from Austrian museum director Max Hollein, who formerly headed the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art and, before that, served as the director of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main. Planning began in 2016, shortly before Donald Trump was elected US president. The show was held in the US during a period when anti-Islamic attitudes were becoming increasingly visible and voiced in America.
A similar polarization of attitudes is noticeable in Germany today, and all questions related to the integration of refugees remain a headline-grabbing topic.
But “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” does not want to be seen as a reaction to this. “We don’t want to solve problems, but to offer new perspectives on a very exciting part of the fashion world that has long been ignored by the Western world,” says curator D’Alessandro.
It remains impossible, however, to blindly believe this is an exhibition about fashion only.
On the one hand, without having seen the show, human rights experts in Germany feel that it is a “slap in the face of girls and women worldwide who don’t want to wear the headscarf or want to take it off,” as Inge Bell, director of the German branch of the organization Terre des Femmes told Vogue Germany.
On the other hand, Muslim women who saw the exhibition in San Francisco found it empowering, as CNET news reporter Abrar Al-Heeti wrote: “As a 25-year-old Muslim woman who loves fashion and wears the hijab, or headscarf, I’ve seen plenty of head coverings. But never anything like this. It’s a statement of resistance, a rebuttal of the idea that Muslim women are weak and oppressed.”
“Contemporary Muslim Fashions” is on show at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt from April 5 through September 2019.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Modern yet modest
Focusing on contemporary Muslim style, the exhibition “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” held at Frankfurt’s Museum Angewandte Kunst was first shown in San Francisco. The show examines a branch of fashion that is often talked about, but which is rarely given a forum to present itself. Among the exhibits is this design made of silk and Swarovski crystals by Malaysian luxury designer Bernard Chandran.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Political message
The show also deals with Islamophobia: The First Amendment of the US Constitution is printed in Arabic on this bomber jacket. Among other things, the amendment lays out freedom of religion. The jacket was designed by Lebanese designer Celine Semaan Vernon. She came to Canada as a refugee with her parents at the end of the 1980s and then moved to the US.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
An answer to Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’
Celine Semaan repeatedly uses her designs to make political statements. In 2017, for example, she designed her “banned” scarves. Some of the scarves feature a satellite photograph of the countries affected by US President Trump’s travel ban. The model in this photo is Iranian-American political fashion blogger Hoda Katebi.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Sports fashion
In addition to clothes, jackets and political scarves, the exhibition also deals with sports fashion. Among the exhibits are a Nike sports hijab and as well as this burkini designed by Shereen Sabet for her company Splashgear. The swimsuit has stirred controversy in different countries, especially in France where it was banned in some cities.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Tempted by the hijab
The Frankfurt exhibition includes pieces to demonstrate that modest fashion does not always mean women must cover. The young German-Turkish designer Feyza Baycelebi signed this creation, part of her collection “Die Lust an Verhüllung” — which translates as the desire or the pleasure to veil.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
‘Resist’
Naomi Afia from Vienna is another designer promoting empowerment through modest fashion. Her collection “Our Bodies Our Business” demonstrates the variety of styles one can adopt as a Muslim. “I wanted to make a statement for self-determination, a statement against constraints on what people should wear or not, whether these constraints come from one side or the other,” the designer said.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Modest fashion made in Europe
Austrian designer Imen Bousnina featured her debut collection at Modest Fashion Weeks in 2018. First initiated in Dubai, such fashion events are now held in Istanbul, London and Jakarta as well. Modest fashion in Europe is mostly imported from Islamic countries like Turkey; this is something Bousnina hopes to change by creating her own designs.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
High-fashion niqabs
Photographer Wesaam Al-Badr, who was born in Iraq but fled to the US with his family during the Gulf War, wanted to comment on the Western perception of the niqab through his series “Al-Kouture,” showing women wearing designer scarves by brands like Chanel, repurposed as high-fashion pieces. It was a form of “soft protest,” he says. Would the French would more readily accept a niqab signed Hermès?
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Having fun despite restrictions
This photo is part of the series “Occupied Pleasures,” by Tanya Habjouqa. Her portraits shows how people occupy themselves in Israeli-occupied territories. Here girls play javelin right by the Israeli West Bank barrier. The photos won several awards, including a World Press Photo award in 2014.
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Modern and modest: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashions’ on show
Social networks: Platforms for expression
Countless bloggers, influencers and fashion magazines are dedicated to the Muslim fashion world. On Instagram, so-called “hijabistas” celebrate the traditional headscarf as a fashion must-have. This aspect is also addressed in the exhibition “Contemporary Muslim Fashions,” which can be seen in Frankfurt until September 15.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/muslim-fashion-for-women-exhibition-stirs-controversy-in-germany/a-45601007?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf