Hijab queens slay on New York fashion week runway

Silver and golden ruffles, long trains adorned with pearls and on-trend pleats, all elegantly styled with hijabs wowed New York fashion week's catwalk on Tuesday.

It was all thanks to Indonesian Muslim designer Anniesa Hasibuan, who in just two seasons, has made the hijab her trademark.

Anniesa joined New York Couture Week in 2015 and 2016, as well as New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer in September 2016. She made history as the first ever designer to feature hijabs in every outfit on a New York Fashion Week catwalk and her work received eminent applause.

This week she dazzled New York by styling the headscarves with flowing, iridescent gowns fit for a princess, with her collection recalling the royalty of the Middle Ages.

It wasn't just her outfits that were noteworthy. The young designer's choice in models also had a significant meaning.

Anniesa held casting calls specifically seeking first and second-generation immigrants. Her aim was to show that "fashion is for everybody."

"There is beauty in diversity and differences – something we should not be afraid of," she explained.

The young designer held casting calls specifically seeking first and second-generation immigrants. Her aim was to show that 'fashion is for everybody'

	Credit for all photos: Getty Images

It all comes at an ideal time in the United States as controversy continues over US President Donald Trump's recent executive order on immigration that attempted to bar refugees and migrants from seven Muslim-majority nations. The decree, currently blocked by a US court, ignited mass protests and global condemnation.

"I'm here bringing the beautiful voice of the Muslim women, the peace and the universal values that fashion can offer," she told AFP.

But Anniesa also insisted that she aims to keep her work, which is primarily geared toward Muslim women, "separate" from politics.

I'm here bringing the beautiful voice of the Muslim women, the peace and the universal values that fashion can offer

Since her fall collection in New York last September, Anniesa has opened new stores in her home country Indonesia as well as in Malaysia, Turkey and Abu Dhabi – proffering modern Islamic clothing dripping in glamour.

Chiara Sari, Indonesia's vice consul in New York, donned a white hijab atop a black, velvet top and black pants to attend the show, pulling her contemporary look together with a statement necklace.

The hijab, Sari said, is Hasibuan's "trademark, and I don't think she will lose that."

Since Trump's contentious decree Sari said she has spent significant time reassuring her fellow Indonesians in the United States, while also urging them to "avoid travelling abroad" to reduce the risk of not being able to re-enter.

For Sari, Hasibuan's growing fame is a gift.

"Hopefully that will increase familiarity with Islam in general, especially now when it is getting a lot of bad press," she said.