Ever since she was a young girl, Hilal Ibrahim has struggled with the lack of luxury hijabs on the market.
According to Ibrahim, Muslim women can go to stores like H&M, Target, or Macy’s to find a scarf, but none of the styles are designed specifically for hijab-wearing women, and miss the mark completely when it comes to appropriate length or material.
But when Ibrahim was preparing for her high school graduation, she decided to take matters into her own hands and design a hijab of her own.
Her headscarf, made of a red chiffon fabric, immediately garnered compliments from friends and peers, and in 2017, the idea for her brand, Henna & Hijabs, a line of fashion-forward hijabs made of eco-friendly materials, was born.
Henna & Hijabs' mission is twofold: to make shopping modestly easier for Muslim women, and create sustainable products that are ethically responsible to both people and the environment.
Yesterday the brand announced its ongoing partnership with luxury department store Nordstrom to create its first-ever line of hijabs. “It means so much that an American retailer is standing behind me and supporting this vision,” says Ibrahim. “My drive for this is breaking down barriers for women. After all, it’s 2021—it shouldn’t be hard finding the perfect scarf and feeling beautiful in it.”
Available online and in over 16 Nordstrom stores across the country (including Ridgedale and Mall of America), the exclusive collection's first run is made up of six hijab styles (in soft pastel, watercolor, and bold prints) that range from $39-89. Plus, a hijab under scarf ($29) and set of hijab pins ($15). The line was designed with special occasions in mind—weddings, graduations, and the Eid holiday.
“Muslim women can now find their complete outfit in one store, from the shoes to the dress to the hijab,” says Ibrahim. That said, Ibrahim designed her line not only for Muslim women, but for anyone looking for a beautiful scarf and to feel empowered. “I know that a lot of preconceived notions come with the hijab, but my hope is that with this product people will see that Muslim women are just as normal and beautiful as everybody else and we love fashion and wearing beautiful things too,” says Ibrahim.
Ibrahim hopes that her partnership with Nordstrom is just the start of great things to come for the brand. “My biggest focus right now is creating accessibility in retail and with Nordstrom, and I look forward to really continuing building that across the board and establishing more opportunities and partnerships.”
Ibrahim (who has over 11 years of experience working in the medical field) also pioneered the first healthcare hijab after she recognized a need for more medical-grade hijabs while drawing blood in the ER. The hijab—which comes in a breathable fabric and with an added slip for access to tools such as stethoscopes or protective face masks—spurred a partnership with HealthPartners, becoming the first hospital in the country to provide medical hijabs to providers and workers. During the pandemic, the brand donated over 700 to local hospitals.
