The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Nike designer urges French to defy robe ban
Craig Simpson
A BRITISH Nike designer has sparked a row by calling on French schoolgirls to defy a new law banning the abaya.
London-based fashion influencer Saeedah Haque has designed modern variations of the robe-like abaya garment, intended to preserve modesty, which will be banned from state schools by the French state in line with its policy of preserving secular spaces.
British Bengali designer Haque has urged schoolgirls to wear abayas in defiance of the prohibition.
The 25-year-old, who has partnered with the global sportswear brand Nike, has told her large social media following that she may offer the controversial garment for free to anyone who wears one to school.
French teaching union leaders have condemned her comments as an irresponsible attempt to “weaken the Republic” and its strong secular tradition, which has been a cause of tension in recent years.
Haque, who has been profiled in fashion magazine as a leader in “modest fashion”, told her social media follow in video on TikTok: “France’s ban on the abaya in schools this week doesn’t make sense and will continue to perpetuate the negative media narrative on conservative modest clothing.”
In the video cut with images of girls wearing the flowing abaya, which typically covers the body from the neck to the ankles, she added that her new designs of the garment will drop “exclusive to France”.
Haque added: “And if you send me a photo of you wearing it to school I might even refund your whole order.
“Streetwear was always a movement, so don’t act surprised, we haven’t even begun. How’s that for neutrality?”
Haque has earned a following after taking part in London’s Modest Fashion Week in 2017.
Her call to defy the prohibition announced this week by Gabriel Attal, French minister for education, has been condemned by French trade union confederation UNSA, which represents teachers who will deal with the ban on the front line.
Frédéric Marchand, general secretary of UNSA Education, said: “Education
needs a safe and peaceful environment. All those who, for one reason or another, want to create a buzz around schools are irresponsible.
“They prevent us from concentrating on core issues. Sometimes they also seek to weaken the Republic.
“In France, laïcité [secularism] and its application in schools around the ban on the wearing of religious symbols or clothing that could be proselytising is an important freedom. It is freedom of conscience.”
Nike and Ms Haque have been contacted for comment.
British fashion influencer says new law prohibiting the abaya from state schools ‘makes no sense’