Zarina Khan
With summer heating up, a question that has been on the mind of many hijabis may finally be answered: Can someone please design a headscarf that offsets the weather?
Just a few weeks back Ahmed Ghanem launched a Kickstarter for his company Veil Garments, which offers a climate-adaptive line of hijabs that he hopes will make ‘bad hijab day weather’ a thing of the past.
“We noticed the advancement in technical clothing in companies like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, etc., but wondered why it wasn’t being incorporated into Islamic wear. We took it upon ourselves to get the ball rolling and we’re happy to see how far it’s come,” Ghanem shared. “Our mission now is to continue to innovate, revolutionize, and change the way people see the hijab.”
The Kickstarter page touts Veil Garments’ products as ‘the Future of Hijab’ – with novel features like water repellence, so that raindrops bead up and roll off. Its cooling feature is especially promising, as the layers of hijab and the longer clothes that accompany the Islamic interpretation of modesty often hold heat and cause discomfort in the summer months. Veil Garments says their specialized scarf fabric’s ability to reflect rather than absorb light results in 7-10 degree Fahrenheit cooler temps inside the scarf.
Veil Garments’ scarves aren’t just about the technical specifications, they’re also made with the wearer’s comfort in mind.
““I have good friends who wear the hijab. They helped advise me on what types of fabric are most comfortable and look the best,” the recent business management graduate explained.
The ‘laser cut’ seams supposedly avoid the lumpy edges that can make arranging a scarf difficult, and the bulky seams that can cause discomfort. The hijabs are also oil repelling, which means that they resist many types of food stains, which are also a frequent problem for hijabis. The scarves are a hijabi-recommended size of 63 inches by 24 inches. They are 100% Nylon Cool Dry fabric, which means less wrinkling, tight edges for skin contact and comfort, sweat wicking and protection from UV rays.
The futuristic all-weather hijab concept has been two years in the making, with Ahmed doing market research and testing. Veil Garments now has a team of three on staff, and a bunch Ohio-based manufacturers ready to contribute and produce.
“We launched our company before Kickstarter, which is only a preorder platform. We could have easily used one specifically for Muslim-based projects, but Kickstarter has millions of users across the globe of different ethnicities and religions. It wasn’t just about raising the funds for the project, rather it was about making a statement for our sisters who wear the hijab and putting them in a positive national light to everyone across the globe,” Ghanem said.
Veil Garments put their idea up on Kickstarter with a $5,000 goal, which in just weeks it greatly exceeded, now surpassing $28,000 with five days to go till the end of the campaign.
“It’s awesome and humbling to see the support. We’ve grown a connection with all of our current followers and we hope we can continue to inspire them. Many non-Muslims have backed the project as well, which is truly amazing,” Ghanem said.
Veil Garments expects their first product stream to hit the market in August 2015, with the Kickstarter supporters set to be among the first to receive their sporty headscarves. Ghanem hopes Veil Garments’ initial product offerings will be expanded to include a range of innovative apparel.
“With this being our very first product, we really hope we receive nothing but positive feedback on it. We want sisters to feel more comfortable in hot and rainy temperatures. This will be a learning experience and we will see what we can improve on in the future. We have a lot of ideas for some upcoming innovations. Whatever it may be, we will make sure it helps sisters stay more comfortable. We like to stay secretive so we can come out with some surprises!” Ghanem concluded.
Veil Garments’ Kickstarter can be found right here.
