OPINION: Hijab was the headline during New York’s fashion week

By Hannah Shraim 
GSS “Libre Talks” columnist

New York Fashion Week began on Sept. 7 this year, and while it technically ended on Sept. 13, the headlines just keep on coming.

In the era of Trump — a hurricane-like atmosphere in which Islamophobic clouds are showering our nation with hateful and exclusionary storms — fashion history was made. Designer Anniesa Hasibuan flooded this year’s catwalk with models all wearing the hijab.

I repeat: Every single one of her models was wearing a hijab. During Fashion Week 2017. In New York, in America. Where Donald Trump is the president.

Also making headlines was none other than Halima Aden, the Somali-American model who got her debut in fashion at Minnesota’s Miss USA competition. Now, she can cross off 1) walking for Kanye West at NYFW, 2) being featured in Rihanna’s new Fenty Beauty line, and 3) being signed to IMG Models from her bucket list. Started from the bottom, but now we here, indeed.

Why the shock you ask? Well, considering Trump’s three travel bans — the latest one blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii earlier today — along with the huge spike in anti-Muslim bias incidents – over 945 incidents from April to June of 2017 to be exact, and those were just the incidents that were reported – there is not a very welcoming tone regarding the followers of islam in America.

But what I really want to focus on is the response to this amazing streak of inclusion in fashion. As a young Muslim woman, I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to be included in mainstream fashion. My whole life, especially from the time that I decided to wear the hijab, I had to grapple with the fact that I am not considered part of the norm in America, which means that I had to constantly modify and adjust what was on the market to fit my modest fashion needs. Never have I gone to the mall expecting brands to market to me.

Yet, here we are, witnessing moments where Nike creates an athletic hijab, CoverGirl names the first Muslim brand ambassador, and people like Aden can make a real mark in the fashion industry.

Despite all that the current president is doing to create storms of division, the tides are shifting to a path of inclusion and diversity.

Alas, there will always be critics. Being a woman is hard enough – you have to deal with societal pressures that dictate how you should look, dress, and act the right way. Women have to consistently break the patriarchal barriers that set them back in places ranging the workplace to their local streets. What is worse than dealing with one set of social expectations, my friend, is dealing with two.

—Shraim is Global Student Square’s Muslim teen columnist. Tell her what to write about next by adding your comment here or tweet to #libretalks. Be sure to catch her videos here and on her YouTube channel, Libre Looks.