Gigi Hadid has already posed for more than a dozen Vogue covers (American and international), but this is unique: Gigi is now the first-ever cover model for the very first issue of Vogue Arabia. Gigi was photographed by Inez and Vinoodh for the cover shoot, and she wears an array of hair-covering pieces, including a Brandon Maxwell-designed hijab and what’s being described as an “elaborately beaded head scarf” (also by Brandon Maxwell) for the two covers. Is that actually what we’re supposed to call it? A “head scarf”? I’m really asking, because I thought there was another word for it. This is what Gigi had to say about this cover:
“Being half-Palestinian, it means the world to me to be on the first-ever cover(s) of @voguearabia. I hope that this magazine will show another layer of the fashion industry’s desire to continue to accept, celebrate, and incorporate all people & customs and make everyone feel like they have fashion images and moments they can relate to… & learn and grow in doing so.”
I’m happy that Gigi is embracing her Palestinian roots, although I really hope she does more to represent her roots than just posing for Vogue Arabia. I mean, the girl thinks Pakistan is in the Middle East. I’m just saying, I hope she cracks open a book or two.
As for the representation of Muslim women and hijab-wearing women in the fashion and beauty industries, I think it’s a good thing. I just watched a documentary short on American Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad and I came away with how vital it is for hijab-wearing women to have more representation in the media, because so many people are too quick to otherize them and stigmatize them.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Inez and Vinoodh for Vogue Arabia.
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