Muslim dress beyond abayas
San Francisco’s De Young shows how contemporary designers are exploring and expanding modest fashion.
SAN FRANCISCO — The De Young Museum here is currently home to the first major U.S. museum exhibition exploring Muslim modest fashion. Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” examines the nuanced, complex and diverse world of Muslim dress codes, with a focus on the Middle East, Southeast Asia and diasporic communities throughout Europe and the United States.
“So often a museum looks back and does a historical overview, but this is really an emerging sector,” said Jill D’Alessandro, curator in charge of costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
“Contemporary Muslim Fashions” opens with a hallway lined with the front pages of fashion magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Scarf, Glam Malaysia and Vogue Arabia. The hallway leads to the first room, where four black-and-white looks are showcased.
“This is a visual pun,” said D’Alessandro. “As you go through the exhibition, the idea of something being black and white — or only having one interpretation — will be quickly dispelled.”
The second gallery explores different forms of covering, including the headscarf, and showcases designers who have updated and modernized the traditional abaya — a loose, black garment designed to cover the body — like designer Mariam Bin Mahfouz’s On Fleek abaya, which is white with black, tuxedo-inspired details.
Social media plays a role in the exhibition; the viral music video “Hijabi (Wrap My Hijab)” by Mona Haydar is featured, as well as a feed from the Instagram accounts of Muslim designers, bloggers and influencers including Hoda Katebi, Leah Vernon and Basma K. “Since the turn of the 21st century, Muslim modest-style arbiters have been among the first to adapt to blogging to share style news and share what they’re wearing. This was primarily done because they weren’t always included in mainstream fashion media,” said Laura L. Camerlengo, the museums’ associate curator of costume and textiles.
The streetwear and sportswear section features the work of designers including Nzinga Knight, the first American Muslim “hijabi” contestant on “Project Runway,” who makes the hijab an integral element of her outfits rather than an afterthought.
Also featured within sportswear is Aheda Zanetti’s “burkini” swimwear (so named by combining the words “burka” and “bikini”) and the “hoodie dress” designed by Sarah Elenany for Muslim girls within the Scout Assn.
The work of the 55 designers on display is accompanied by their words — in the form of direct quotes on placards and on walls throughout the exhibition.
A segment of the exhibition focuses on Indonesia — the largest Muslim-majority country in the world. Designers such as Itang Yunasz, Khanaan Luqman Shamlan and Dian Pelangi incorporate luxurious fabrics in vibrant colors and intricate patterns in their modestwear designs.
“Most of my collections are influenced by the culture in Indonesia, but sometimes I’ll do an acculturation of two cultures — from New York, from Russia or from the Middle East,” said Pelangi during a walk-through of the exhibition.
The penultimate gallery features haute couture pieces from Christian Dior and Jean-Louis Scherrer, displaying ensemble pieces of a dress and abaya made for a multiday Saudi Arabian wedding. The bright-colored pieces involve intricate details of metallic embroidery, sequins, rhinestones and beads.
“[Couture houses] take a designer style then make slight adaptions to fit with concepts of modesty,” D’Alessandro explained. “This could mean adding a sleeve to a sleeveless shirt, adding a slip to a transparent skirt, lengthening the skirt. … The designer keeps the DNA of their style, yet still adapts to modest dress codes.”
The final gallery features garments worn by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar. The custom ensembles, altered for modesty, were designed by leading couturiers Valentino, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel. Adjustments were made, for example, by adding a cape of bugle beads (on a Chanel piece) or raising the originally plunging neckline (on a Gaultier).
“Fashion is one of the universal languages we can use without saying anything,” Pelangi said. “Many people don’t normally know the real meaning of the hijab. People might think that people who wear hijabs are oppressed. But from social media, and from fashion itself, we are trying to show that we’re not oppressed. We are very comfortable with it. And we can still be anything or anyone with our hijab on.”