Stylish twist on modesty
On a recent afternoon, I was entering the North York building where I live when I saw a girl in the lobby who stopped me in my tracks. Actually, it was her head scarf that stopped me. I'm used to seeing hijabs - the scarves worn by Muslim women as a sign of modesty - when walking around the city. Usually they are simple and in muted colours, but this girl's had intricate hand embroidery, a pearl border and sequins shimmering in the sunlight.
"Wow," I exclaimed.
"It is beautiful, isn't it?" she said.
I thought it must have been from somewhere in South Asia. But no, she said, she got it here in Toronto.
"You can get them all over the GTA. They have become very fashionable," she said, adding that in the past couple of years the hijab had metamorphosed from a plain triangular scarf to a garment that comes in different shapes and a multitude of fabrics, crocheting and lace work included.
She told me she picked hers up at North American Islamic Fashion on Danforth Avenue near Greenwood. I don't wear a hijab, nor am I Muslim, but textiles fascinate me.
Flanked by pizzerias and facing a mosque, the store stocks everything from prayer mats to rosaries, to religious literature and clothing. At first, I couldn't spot the hijabs.
"They are all at the back with other women's clothing. We have lots," said Naila Mateen, a pleasantly plump middle-aged mother of two who runs the store with her husband.
"They are available in cotton, silk, georgette and polyester with prices ranging $10 to $100," Ms. Mateen said. She herself usually wears plain hijabs, reserving the ornate ones for special occasions.
The pièce de résistance was a pearl-studded hand-painted organza head scarf with a lace border. Fancy, glittery ones like this - some studded with pearls and sequins - were neatly packed in a bag and brought out by request.
Ms. Mateen said her store is increasingly frequented by non-Muslims, as contemporary hijabs lend themselves well to being used as scarves or pareos, a kind of wraparound skirt.
And as I found out, not only was this the case, but the opposite was true too - mainstream stores like the Bay and H&M have started stocking scarves that can be worn as hijabs.
A week later, I spied some Louis Vuitton and Bianca Nygard scarves nestling in a Bay store in the Fairview Mall. I was with Susan Raoufizad, a York University student and aspiring doctor who has been wearing the hijab since she turned 7.
"I like Gucci's material and patterns. And I have some Louis Vuitton too," she told me. Though Christian Dior is her favourite brand of clothing, she has been unable to find a Dior scarf big enough to be worn as a hijab. The price tag for branded hijabs? Anywhere from $50 to a cool $1,200.
A few kilometres away, in Scarborough's Bridlewood Mall, Orient Silk's Jim Lin watches over some Muslim girls debating which "Made in China" scarves to buy. They are all in hijabs and Mr. Lin counts many hijabis among his clientele. As a good businessman, he keeps tabs on trends. He does not know what the hijab represents, only that it has something to do with religion. Sometimes he wonders at this coalition between fashion and faith, but reasons that one has to move with the times.
To all the hijabis that I met, I had to ask: How can a symbol of piety and modesty befriend fashion? The response from Fatima Nazeem, a student I met while at Mr. Lin's place, struck me the most for its simplicity: "It is the intent that matters. I like wearing makeup and dressing fashionably. As long as I am doing it for myself and not to attract attention, it is fine. I have a clear conscience."