Modest Models Who Are Glamorous Fashionistas
In private and at work, Lymus adheres to the principle of adab. “It describes your demeanor,” she explained. “We don’t expose our hair or skin, yet it’s more about how you comport yourself than what you wear. There are very few dress guidelines in the Koran. The more conservative styles of covering”—the burka, the abaya, and the full-face veil called the niqab—“are not mandatory.” Modest does not have to mean timid. Flamboyant color and embellishment are the signatures of Lymus’s clothing label, Amirah Creations: “My taste,” she said, “runs to jazzy.”
Muslims spend more than two hundred and sixty-six billion dollars a year on fashion, according to a Thomson Reuters report. Some British hijabis interviewed by Reina Lewis, a professor at the London College of Fashion, told her that they “consciously use style to challenge stigma: they hope that being visibly fashionable will help non-Muslims recognize them as part of the modern world.” Lymus seems more concerned with the way the stigma is internalized. This summer, she was a counsellor at a camp for Muslim girls, where she led hijab-wrapping workshops. “At that age, hair is a big deal. And they have all the body complexes that other teens do. It’s important for them to be comfortable embracing who they are.”