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DECEMBER 21, 2015

How to Sell a Hijab in Malaysia


BY TARA THEAN

When the Malaysian designer and entrepreneur Vivy


Yusof began to wear a hijab, it was a personal religious
choicebut the decision soon became a launching pad
for her lucrative online-retail startup.
COURTESY VIVY YUSOF

n October of 2013, the Malaysian entrepreneur


Vivy Sofinas Yusof posted a slightly blurry
snapshot of herself on Instagram. She was looking at a menu, wearing a simple green
top and black head scarf. It was her first public appearance in the hijab, and within a
week she had ten thousand new Instagram followers. Comments on the picture
poured in: I have made u as my inspiration. Love youlillahi taala. May God bless
you sis.
For many Muslim women, the decision to don the hijaba head covering typically
worn after puberty, in order to observe the Islamic principles of modesty and privacy
is born of private self-reflection. Initially, this was the case for Yusof, who is now
twenty-eight years old. But her choice soon became something else, as well: a lucrative
source of attention for herself and her multimillion-dollar online-retail startup,
FashionValet, which already sold hijabs and later came to include her own line of
scarves and a stationery brand. Yusof is now among the growing number of Malaysian
women who are trying to revolutionize the hijabs contentious image. While the scarf
has tended to be viewed primarily as a marker of Islamic duty and identity, and
sometimes, especially in the West, of female subjugation and oppression, in Malaysia
women are freeeven encouragedto inject glamor and prestige into the hijab, and
to make money from it. Although the country is predominantly Muslim, a form of
Sunni Islam is the official state religion, and it has a dual legal system that
incorporates Islamic law, it is generally more moderate than many other Muslim
nations. Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, for example, Malaysia does not force women to
cover their heads by law. About five million of the countrys seventeen million
Muslimsperhaps a little over half of Muslim womenwear the head scarf.
Yusof is the co-founder and chief creative officer of FashionValet, which primarily
stocks clothes by Southeast Asian designers. The company has done particularly well
selling clothing that isMuslimah, or observant of Muslim customs, even as it borrows
the marketing techniques of global western retailers. Yusof rose to prominence with
her blog, ProudDuck.com, where she has been writing for more than seven years
about her college days in London, her family, and her work. Her posts, there and on
social media, are distinctly aspirational. The posts are also distinctly Muslim. She has
blogged, for example, about a Quran recitation app called iQuran, and about the
mandatory course Malaysian Muslims take to learn how to insure a good marriage.

mandatory course Malaysian Muslims take to learn how to insure a good marriage.
When FashionValet opened its new headquarters in the greater Kuala Lumpur area,
Yusof published a picture of the facilitys prayer room for her Instagram followers, who
now number in the hundreds of thousands. A few posts later, she announced that a
new line of handbags, which a regional designer had based on her style and named
after her and her sister, had sold out forty-five minutes after their release. I really
dont know what to say except THANK YOU ALHAMDULILLAH, she wrote.
It was the donning of the hijab, though, that caused Yusof s following to escalate most
steeply. It also presented her with a clear business opportunity. Seven months after she
posted the snapshot of herself in a head scarf, she launched a line of luxury hijabs,
called dUCk, which the company describes as the new cool for scarves. . . for stylish
ladies who appreciate a dash of luxury in their lives.
The dUCk brand strives to replicate the experience of buying the iconic, prohibitively
expensive scarves sold by Herms. Indeed, the dUCk box and the Herms scarf box
are strikingly similar. Both are flat, square, and sturdy, set apart by their color and trim:
bold orange with a thin black border for Herms; bold purple with a thin white border
for dUCk. Upon opening a dUCk box, the customer finds a head scarf with a
delicately stitched scalloped hem, available in colors with names like Banana Pudding,
Diamond Rose, and Mint Frosting. The scarves can be long or short, and they barely
crease, even after being scrunched up. Each has a subtle gold duck charm affixed to
one corner, and costs a hundred and twenty ringgit (nearly thirty dollars).
The countrys hijab industry already hosts a slew of competing brands. In Kuala
Lumpur, a single street like Jalan Masjid India provides consumers with a dizzying
array of hijab designs and brands to choose from. But there, the trade takes place in
small, often hot and humid prewar shops, with low prices the primary draw. Hijabs on
Jalan Masjid India can cost as little as four ringgit, or about one dollar, but they more
often range from twenty or twenty-five ringgit, for a scarf that stops around the chest
area, to forty-five ringgit, for one that goes to the hips. Style and being on trend do
matterone vender told me that dua muka (two-faced) scarves, showcasing different
colors on an inner and outer layer, had been particularly popular recently. But for most
customers comfort and religious suitability are key. They look at . . . whether the scarf
makes it easy to go for prayers, Hajj, a vender named Ayuniza binti Safrozal told me.
Other Malaysian designers have gone after the convenience end of the market. The
actress and television host Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor, who is better known simply as
Neelofa, produces the Naelofar Hijab line of instant shawlsexpress versions of
conventional head scarves that consumers can slip over their heads without the fuss of
pins or draping.
Yusof was determined that dUCk be different from the outset. She told me that, when
the label was still in its infancy, her husband (and FashionValets C.E.O.), Fadzarudin
Anuar, suggested that she avoid competing with the existing markets and instead
make hers an aspirational brand. The high price and the packaging were part of this
strategy. Yusof s blog and social-media postsin English, which is spoken by a higher
percentage of affluent Malaysians than of the public at largeimplicitly added to the

percentage of affluent Malaysians than of the public at largeimplicitly added to the


appeal. But the packaging had personal significance as well, she said. Everyone buys
scarves and they just put them in plastic bags, she said. Wearing the scarf is a
celebration of my religion. When people buy scarves they should be well-presented.
In her posts, she tells readers that choosing to wear the hijab should be an upgrade to
their lives. She is changing the whole reputation of the head scarf, Farah Alia
Razali-Tyler, a law graduate, told me. When people thought of the hijab, they
thought, I dont want to look like amakcika frumpy older woman. Now theyre
saying its okay to be more modern.
dUCks approach places it in competition less with the instant shawls and the shops
along Jalan Masjid India than with the Muslimah-fashion stores in affluent suburbs
like Bangsar, outside central Kuala Lumpur. One of these outposts, Modvier, sells
some sixty-five local and international Muslimah brands. Customers arrive
brandishing their smartphones, to show the sales assistants photos of models theyve
seen on the stores Instagram account or on television. For these shoppers, Modvier
tries to emphasize material and workmanshippointing out, for example, that
material and stitching are crucial to the way the hijab falls around the face (some
women may seek a slimming effect from the material, or want elegant stitching).
Higher-end scarves might also be cooling, given Malaysias climate. Modviers
operations manager, Anita binti Asril, told me that Modvier staff are also mindful of
the hijabs significance, in Islam, as a symbol of modesty. Customers often begin with
shorter hijabs, then progress to longer ones as they get olderwhen they know what
Islam wants. Some women, particularly foreign ones, begin their journey toward the
hijab by first trying out other Muslimah wear, likejubahs(long-sleeved, loose, fulllength dresses), while keeping their hair uncovered.
For Yusof and others whose celebrity is linked with the scarf, thegoal of religious
modesty offers more of a challenge
(http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie).
Once they see you as a hijab icon, youre automatically a Muslim icon, she said of her
fans. She said shed been told things like, Ive started wearing the head scarf because
you make it look so easy. Such comments make her uncomfortable, because she
doesnt feel knowledgeable enough about Islam to serve as an advocate for the hijab.
There are scholars for that, she said, adding that no one should wear the scarf because
they idolize another person. She herself still wears tight trousers and bright colors,
even though some religious authorities argue that Muslim women are prohibited from
wearing formfitting clothes in public, or indeed from attracting attention at all. Yusof s
fans also occasionally voice concerns about her appearance. She has blogged about
receiving e-mails and social-media comments that tell her Your pants are still too
tight, and I can still see your toes. Her Instagram followers speak up if they see a
sliver of hair visible under her hijab (Vivy, ur hair :(((((((().
These kinds of social pressures tend to be the extent of the interplay between
FashionValets business and the debates over the politics of the hijab that often take
place outside Malaysia. Although regulations pertaining to the decency of attire are
part of Malaysias dual legal systemwhich includes Islamic law, for Muslims,

part of Malaysias dual legal systemwhich includes Islamic law, for Muslims,
alongside secular laws that apply to all citizenscertain areas of Malaysia are stricter
about matters of dress than others. Local authorities in some states, like Kelantan and
Terengganu, can fine Muslim women who wear tight clothing or who dont wear the
hijab, but in urban areas, like greater Kuala Lumpur, the pressures are lighter, and
officials tend to favor promoting Islamic dress over punishing the failure to adhere to
it. Members of the Malaysian government, notably Zaidel Baharuddin, a special
officer to the countrys minister of domestic trade, coperatives, and consumerism,
have described the kind of self-expression and promotion that women like Yusof are
doing as empowering. He told me that he views self-expression by Muslim women on
social media to be equally relevant to feminism. And whether hijabs are simply in
vogue or a sign of devotion to Allah, he said, the surge in popularity for Muslim
fashion is a good thing. You can follow the religious obligation and look good with
it. Media outlets owned by the Malaysian government and the ruling Barisan
Nasional coalition have featured Yusof and her business ventures, with accompanying
photographs of her in close-fitting trousers and bright colors.
Though Malaysian films such as Norhayati Kaprawis documentary Siapa Aku?
(Who Am I?) do question the reasons the countrys Muslim women choose to don
the head scarf, domestic media rarely presents public critiques of the hijab, or of the
governments role in promoting it. But independent glossy fashion magazines are
sometimes wary of the hijabs potential to alienate the countrys secular, cosmopolitan
women. After Yusof began wearing the head scarf, she told me, some magazines that
had previously demonstrated great interest in her stopped calling. One, she said,
cancelled plans for a feature about her after learning of her decision, even though an
interview and photo shoot had already been scheduled. They dont want . . .
akampung[village] girl, she said.

Tara Thean is a freelance writer living in Southeast Asia.

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