Hijab in India

The traditional purdah for Muslim women has got a trendy twist from designers.

Girls will be girls. And get all dolled up in pretty clothes, jewellery and the works! And well, the mandatory hijab or purdah just becomes another article of clothing to experiment with different kinds of embroidery and embellishments.

Even as fashion designers, online stores and local boutiques spot the niche market for designer hijab, burqa, chador, niqab, abaya or jilaba, girls have never had it so good.

Mumbai-based fashion designer Nisha Sagar designs hand embroidered head scarves or hijabs and full length lose jilabas for an elite Muslim clientele.

"Young girls are experimenting with colours, cuts and embellishments in these garments," she says.

Rooted in the traditional purdah system, the hijab dress code is a choice that some women make, while it becomes a mandatory stipulation for others.

But interesting requests for "Chadors, head scarves and burqas in chikan and zardozi embroidery" handled by Joshina Saluja from her city-based boutique speak of the feminine desire for pretty clothes.

Another local entrepreneur exporting hand embroidered fabric to Muslim and European countries, Shalini Zafar, acknowledges the special burqas that are "made to order in rust, cream, grey, embellished with crystals, sequins, elegant zardozi and other embroidery" for her clients.

According to hubby Zafar Haq, "The hijab in the Middle East countries is as trendy as it can get. Body-hugging cuts, buttoned halfway down, and front open, with the skirt or jeans peering through the open slits; bright colours, leather appliques, sequins, embroidery, you name it and it's there!"

Lucknowite Nancy Fare, now teaching in Muscat adds, "The designs are getting functional and working women enjoy the difference.

"Fashion designers may have just identified the new market, but traditional embellishment favourites such as "Multani mirror work, Sindhi Ajrak block prints in navy blue, maroon and cream and of course, chikan, zari and zardozi" have always been there, informs Lucknowite Sehar Hasan.

Even as she chooses her sari pallu or dupatta to cover her head when required for religious ceremonies, Sehar, a school teacher, doesn't feel the compulsion to wear a hijab herself.

Even as Muslim women are increasingly looking at careers, the hijab, if still on their priority list, is definitely in step with their aspirations. And apna Lucknow is quite in sync with the times.