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As luxury brands and high-street labels begin to include islamic styles in their collections, designer kallol datta hopes it isn’t just tokenism and that we’re ready to give the hijabi fashionista her due recognition

"I worked for six years with foreign journalists and no matter what story they did, the visuals were always an Iranian woman [in a black chador]. They would write about the economy, politics, Iranian caviar or the price of petrol and the accompanying photograph was always a picture of an Iranian woman in a black chador (sic),” Iranian photographer and writer Haleh Anvari told The Guardian in 2008, during her exhibition at the Barbican in London. Her photographic projects, and spoken-word piece, Power Of A Cliché, countered the reductionist stereotyping of Iranian women in the West and in Iran, and highlighted the colour, movement and fashion potential of the religious garment.

Back in 2001, Dutch brand Capsters introduced the sports hijab—a stretchable, ready-fit hijab without an undercover, pins or knots, which made inroads into school gymnasiums and low-level sporting events. A decade later, Nike and others joined the programme. Prior to 2001, Muslim women living in non-Islamic regions had to fashion their own hijabs by piecing together clothing—either tailor-made or from high-street brands—to form their wardrobes. A local grocer may have imported a few scarves, chadors and hijabs, but not enough to meet the needs of the area’s Muslim populace.