A New, Eco-Friendly Hijab Line Hopes to Make Shopping Modestly Easier
Henna & Hijabs founder Hilal Ibrahim has struggled to find the perfect hijab since high school. Unimpressed with the options available to wear for her graduation, she decided to make a red chiffon hijab herself. She knew she was onto something. “I remember wearing it and a friend of mine saying, ‘where did you get this from?’” she says.
She officially launched her line in 2017, but now hopes to bring her fashion-forward hijabs to the masses. Today, her label officially partners with Nordstrom, and she hopes that her new collection will making shopping modestly that much easier for Muslim women. “My hope is to serve Muslim women, and women everywhere,” she says. “I hope they feel the love we put into the creation of it.” With cheery, summer styles like pastel pink silks, she hopes that the hijabs can change the narrative around modest style as a whole, and prove that Muslim women can indeed express themselves and have fun with fashion. It’s also the first hijab line that Nordstrom has ever carried.
The Nordstrom launch isn’t Ibrahim’s first time innovating a hijab. In 2019, Ibrahim was working as a phlebotomist drawing blood at a hospital, and she recognized a need for more medical-grader hijabs in the field as well. “One night, I got blood on my hijab, and I actually had to drive home on a busy shift to change it,” says Ibrahim. She ended up launching the first-ever line of medical-grade hijabs in the U.S., crafting a design that is made with durable materials and practical lengths for work. (During the pandemic, her company donated over 700 of these hijabs to hospitals in the Twin Cities area.)
But now, the founder is ready to get back into the fashion space. The six key styles for the new collection come in pastel colors and elegant prints like watercolors (prices are accessible and range from $15 for hijab pins, to $89 for luxurious silk styles). “What I had in mind was weddings and the Eid holiday,” says Ibrahim. “The colors are perfect for summer.” Ibrahim also released essential accessories, such as hijab pins and undercaps, as well. “The undercaps are in a really breathable material,” she says. “I wanted to make sure that it was something that could hold silk pieces, because silk will just slip right off.” Better yet, the line also has a sustainable aspect; it’s made mostly using eco-friendly materials such as silks and organic cottons.
Ibrahim sees her line being carried in a big retailer like Nordstrom as a positive step forward for the hijab market—and she hopes one day that Muslim women will be able to find chic, affordable styles in any and all stores. “Accessibility has always been an issue, and I want to remove that barrier,” says Ibrahim.
