While brands across the globe like Burberry, Diane Von Furstenberg, Benefit Cosmetics and more, have released campaigns with hijabi models over the past few months, Taqwa Bint Ali, who stars in Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest campaign, is no mere model. She co-founded Zarafet Galleries, one of the first modest fashion platforms in France, and works with Akagi Glub, which offers women who cover a safe space to practice sports.
The 22-year-old Tunisian-French entrepreneur was born in Paris, played basketball for many years, and has been working tirelessly to help highlight Muslim creatives in fashion, art and sport in France, a country with a complicated relationship with icons of “Muslim fashion” like hijabs and burkinis.
While many fashion houses have been taking their shows digital as a result of the pandemic, Jean Paul Gaultier recruited a range of diverse “muses” for its campaign dubbed the “No Show,” which saw a new generation of multi-faceted models dressed in designs from the luxury haute couture house’s archives.
“Today’s society has to be inclusive and include diversity,” Taqwa said to Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. “It needs to include people who represent minorities.”
In the Jean Paul Gaultier “No Show” campaign, Taqwa is dressed in an exaggerated lime green sweater, paired with a feathered black skirt, red leggings and sporty white trainers. A printed headscarf and statement earrings complete her eclectic look.
“To become the first hijabi model in a Jean Paul Gaultier campaign and to be supported by such an influential French luxury brand, especially against islamophobia in France, really means a lot to me,” she told Harper’s Bazaar Arabia.
“As a hijabi living in the West I have rarely seen a representation of a North African or Arab woman, let alone someone wearing a hijab. Today, thanks to models like Halima Aden, Ugbad Abdi, Ikram Abdi Omar and many others, it has gained increasing recognition in various aspects – not just fashion. On the other hand, in France [it is still seen as taboo]; you will never see a hijabi. . . in an advertising poster in the street – and if this is the case it will probably be considered ‘controversial.’”
Once a rarity in high fashion, it’s clear that embracing the image of the visibly-Muslim woman is now trending in the industry. Hijabi women are starring on runways and featuring in campaigns of major, global brands, and Taqwa, who is more than “just a model”, is representative of the new Muslim muse who is both inspiring fashion designers and influencing consumers.
Read Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s full interview with Taqwa here.
