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Art & Culture Team
Answer
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Name
kareem
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Profession
Question
Out of your experience how do you see Hijab? And from your view point why some Euro countries refuse girls with Hijab, force them to put it off in schools?
Answer
When I started my research, back in 1999 for my graduation project, I didn’t know much about hijab. But I was triggered by the subject. Lot of people in the Netherlands had an opinion about the veil, though not many information was out there. I thought girls had to wear them, that it wasn’t really a choice. After meeting several women and girls who wore them by choice (and not because their father, husband or brother told them to), my view on veiling changed. Though I pitty the fact that still some girls and women are forced to wear the hijab.
As regards to prohibiting the hijab as is happening in certain countries, like France but also Turkey. Prohibiting the hijab, as well as making the hijab mandatory (by law as is the case in certain Islamic countries), denies the voice and choice of the women themselves.
A lot of the prohibitions on hijabs might have to do with the connotations or associations people have with the hijab, like fundamentalism, terrorism or oppression of women. This is partly due to the one sided view and news we receive from countries like Afghanistan and Iran and the perhaps limited knowledge on Islam in the west. In Turkey there is another reason for prohibiting the hijab, that goes back to the beginning of last century and has a historical and political background, as is the case in France as well.
I believe in dialogue and trying to find solutions, instead of prohibiting the hijab. Like I did with the sportsline for Capsters. A girl got expelled from gymclass due to safety reasons, the alternative that was given in court by the Committee of Equal Treatment (that protects our law against discrimination) was to wear a swim cap and turtle neck instead. That made me realize the subject was not about covering, but the way the girls were covered, and that could be solved by a designer. I tried to come up with a solution that was agreeable to both parties: both safe but with an appearance that would be recognized by muslim girls.
Name
jasmine
- Australia
Profession
Question
Salam Cindy,
as a Muslim girl who wears the scarf it's very difficult to find western clothes that afre loose which leads to be having to wear very traditional attire. Are you designing a new brand of Islamic clothing for women... bc I believe it will prosper without a doubt because we Muslim women struggle to find nice clothes
Answer
Dear Jasmine
Questions like yours I get more often ;-) But I think there is a lot out there, you just need to find the right combination. Also upcoming brands and designers, specially on the internet are trying to meet your request. I can recommend Rabia Z. a fashion designer from the UAE, who I recently met in Dubai. She is designing trendy wardrobes for the modern moslima.
For our brand Capsters I only design headwear, but one of our models: the Capsters Lady is more than just a hijab, it’s almost a top that you can combine with a dress for instance. Actually your question resembles my thoughts on hijab when I started designing headwear almost 10 years ago. I saw trendy Muslima’s wearing more traditional hijabs. I wanted to offer a solution, an alternative that would make a better match with their western wardrobe.
One day a girl age 13 visited my studio, wearing clothes that made her look much older. When she saw my Skate design, she cried out: now I can wear jeans and trowsers instead of these long and boring skirts! She was matching her wardrobe with her scarf, while I think you could do it the other way: find a matching hijab with the style of outfit you would like to wear.
Also in the Sharjah museum in the UAE, which I recently visited, there is currently an exhibition on modern Islamic clothing. Besides our brand Capsters, and Rabia Z.’s designs, you find some other brands that are developing modern alternatives for covering. https://www.capsters.com/news.jsp?news=3
Name
Tomasz
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Profession
Question
As-Salamu 'Alaykum:
Women should not stand alone as the outward symbol of Islam. Muslim males can easily integrate; the Kufi, Ghutra, Turban are not wajib or fard for the males. This is a blessing in that we males can provide for the family, and a curse in that it doesn't help to advance Islam in the manner that jew wearing a Yarmulka advances Judaism.
The jews can hold to jewish tradition because the males wear Yarmulkas and Tillit(Prayer shawls, I believe they started at Ghutras but they moved them from the head to be a shawl.) publicly, so society becomes accustomed to seeing it.
Please tell me where I have gone astray.
Answer
Dear Tomasz
Indeed I think you got a point here. The discrimination on hijab affects women and girls especially. Though men with long beards and something like a dress can face some problems in the west as well. But the fact stays that within Islam women are mostly affected by restrictions on their appearance. That is something that is considered in a lot of cases that are taken to court in the Netherlands to prevent discrimination.
Maybe interesting to compare: Sikhs in England have arranged to wear their turban or shawl on police duty, making it possible for them to even integrate their turban in the UK police uniform. Because this was realized, Muslim women asked for an integration of the hijab in their police uniform, making the shawl no issue as it is over here when talking about uniforms in the Netherlands. Sweden and Australia I believe have come up with similar solutions. But every country has it’s own (migrant) history, making it different for each country on how they deal with the often heavy loaded topic on veiling.
What surprises me often in cases regarding the hijab, that the reason why the hijab is refused is to prevent oppression of women. While prohibiting them with restrictions to enter certain area’s or even professions with their hijab, they are actually doing the same: obstructing women to play an active part in society.
Name
Salima
-
Profession
Question
do you think chaning the way of dressing can help Muslims to integrate more in the societies they are living in? how effective is your experience with new hijab design?
Answer
Dear Salima
The thought behind the Capsters designs are to take away the heavy load on veiling in the west, by integrating it in the modern wardrobe. By doing so it becomes part of a whole that can lead to admiration rather than rejection. Still fashion is very personal and it all depends both on the wearer and viewer/ receiver. But I would like to share with you two replies that I received on my designs.
The first one that sticks to my mind, was just after graduation; we had a big graduation show in Amsterdam back in 1999. An older man, about 70 years old, came up to me, very determined, stating he didn’t like hijabs, pausing and than continuing by saying: ‘but I do like these!’ And off he went… leaving me in awe. I wanted to share my experiences and discoveries with this man, share with him the stories of independent and well educated women that chose to wear the hijab themselves. Wanted to give a different outlook on the subject, but he didn’t want to talk obviously. Later I realized he gave me the biggest compliment ;-) And actually that my designs maybe don’t need words?
Another interesting feedback that I received was from a young women, studying and working at an University in New York. She mailed me ‘with your designs, I can show that I’m willing to integrate, yet within my own norms & values’. This feedback compliments my designs and actually confirm my thoughts that I had while designing the Capsters models.
Name
Mohammed
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Profession
Question
I thank you for this session. i know you are not Muslim, did you find hard to make desigsn of Hijab for muslims? How this idea started wit you? and how you find the your community react to it? thanks in advance
Answer
Dear Mohammad
You’re welcome, I enjoy discussing my work and the topic of veiling! When I decided to make the hijab my graduation project, I was a bit hesitant in the beginning, to say the least. As you noticed, I’m not a Muslim myself, nor do I wear the hijab. Was I allowed to do something with the heavy loaded veil, was I allowed to give it a more modern appearance? That’s why I took my research very seriously: I studied articles, essays, cases, and even the verses in the Quoran that cover the subject of veiling.
After all the theory, I wanted to learn about the practices. So I visited several women organizations, meeting Muslima’s of different ages, with various cultural and ethnic backgrounds to discuss the veil, my thoughts and their problems. I was surprised by the warm welcome I received, specially that I wanted to solve ‘their problem’. Still when I give lectures or presentations, people are surprised seeing a blue eyed blond haired women on stage, instead of a Muslima with hijab. But it also puts me in the position of being able to tell a more objective story: since I don’t tell my own story, I tell the story of many girls and women that I met during my research, that I’ve been in contact with worldwide over the internet after graduation and my work was picked up by the media, and the story of the many girls and women that I still meet today. I take this very seriously, trying to be integer in sharing their stories and making the veiled Moslima’s story more personal instead of portraying them as a homogenous group.
After I designed the 4 sports models, I went to an imam to approve my designs. He was very enthusiastic that I want to solve the problem of veiling during school sports. He even asked if I could design a swimming hijab! Actually our Capsters Skate is often used for swimming, since it’s made out of lycra, the same material that’s used for bathing suits.
I thought I had come up with a solution for a particular girl here in the Netherlands that was expelled from gymclass. But after my story was published, orders started coming in from Australia, South Africa and the US. I didn’t realize I had tackled a universal problem, let alone that I had even thought about commercializing my designs. I had extensive correspondence with women and girls worldwide that reacted on my designs. I asked them for their personal experiences, how they solved doing sports with their own hijabs. This opened my scope on the hijab internationally, even today I still work with the feedback from our customers and visitors to our web shop. We also work with local Muslim girls and women to react and reflect on our designs.
Name
Muhammad
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Profession
Doctor
Question
Salam, I would like to ask you that wht is the significance of your new design of hijab ? And to what extent you have the meaning of hijab??And what do u mean by HIJAB, either face veil or just arabic Abayaa??
Answer
Dear Muhammed
Capsters designs are distinctive in color and material (like our Jeans model) plus the fact that you don’t need pins or knots to tie the scarf to your head: they have a shape of their own. That’s what makes the Capsters designs comfortable and distinctive in their appearance. Maybe you can take a look at my designs: www.capsters.com ; the new models can even be viewed 3D.
What I did during my research, was looking at the average way of covering that I saw here in my own country by Muslim migrants from mainly Turkey and Morocco. Of course I am aware of the bigger content the word hijab caries. Specially from an Arabic point of view, if I’m not mistaken: meaning a physical separation or even curtain, and besides a noun, the word even has meaning as a verb. Besides that the hijab as a way of covering is interpreted differently worldwide: Muslim women are very distinctive from Turkish women in the way they veil themselves for instance. That is, since I thought I was just solving the problem for this particular Dutch girl in gym class, why I focused on the average of covering that I saw here on the streets in the Netherlands.
When I talk about the hijab I refer to the covering of head, hair and neck (and often even the breast area). The veil can be confusing I agree, since it means both the covering of the hair as well as it can cover the face. But for a face cover I refer to as the niqaab. The Abaya I only use for the black, sometimes decorated, coat or wide dress that is worn in Arabic countries, in combination with a sheyla (if I spell this right), which is a kind of hijab or shawl. So mainly when I use the word hijab, I refer to the shawl that is commonly used to cover the head. I hope I answered all of your questions?
Name
Jack
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Profession
Question
how long have you worked as hijab designer? how is your experience in this field so far?
Answer
Dear Jack
I started designing hijabs back in 1999 for my graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I’ve been designing hijabs since, publishing a book on veiling with quotes that give a positive view on the subject, rather than rejecting it.
It has been published in 2003, with beautiful pictures by photographer Giti Entezami. Together we have organized a traveling exhibition, blowing up the pictures 1 square meter and accompanying them by quotes from the book. This exhibition traveled low profile, from libraries to community centers. Every time we organized an informative afternoon with the help of local Muslima’s, with ánd without the hijab.
We started off with a more theoretical lecture by a Muslima on the backgrounds of the hijab, and continued with a panel of 5 to 7 Muslima’s who shared thoughts and experiences with the audience. Instead of making it a discussion, as often is the case with the heavy loaded subject of veiling, I wanted to give the audience a personal view in the subject of veiling and hijab. We were quite successful with this, the exhibition traveled for a few years throughout the country. We even had request to bring it abroad, but unfortunately it’s all in Dutch!
As far as a hijab designer: I still have many ideas. Meeting Muslima’s worldwide, reading or hearing their stories inspires me. Also I collect different hijabs and veils worldwide. I would like to expand our Capsters lines (now we have sports, casual and exclusive) with new models and designs. As stated before, we cooperate with (local) Muslima’s and ask feedback from our clients and visitors to our website. Lots to do for the future!
Name
Editor
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Profession
Question
The session has ended. We would like to thank Hijab designer Cindy van den Bremen for taking the time to answer your questions, and all those who participated in the dialogue.
