Race and the hijabinista

Nadira Abdul Quddus~ fashion blogger, YouTuber, DIY’er and health & wellness enthusiast. Photo credit: Strugglinghijabi

By Keziah Ridgeway

Hijabinista. Hijabista. MusDiva.

Whatever you call them, Muslim women who use social media to highlight their love of fashion and creativity have become all the rage. This phenomenon, spurred by the daunting task of finding fashion forward clothing, has even made its way into mainstream media. From the very beginning, hijabista’s

created a symbiotic relationship between their followers and the showcasing of Muslim or Muslim friendly companies/products. With this explosion of Islamic fashion internationally and domestically, these fashionista’s in a hijab have gained more notoriety.

When done with purpose and good intentions, blogging can be a great way to connect local communities to global companies and bring new trends and ideas to Muslim women from the area. Companies who recognize the inherent value in having a well known hijabinista be the face of their product tap into that potential. As a result, we see many of the more popular bloggers working with and advertising the products of major companies and events thus bringing notoriety to the product and an increased following. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship to those who get to participate, but what about those who don’t?

Editor’s note: Keziah Ridgeway is a History Teacher and Writer/Blogger based out of Philadelphia. A longer version of this post was originally published on reMARC by MuslimARC.