This Muslim Woman Is Redefining Hijabi Fashion In Japan With Her Gorgeous Instagram Photos

Although her Indonesian Muslim mother and father never forced her to wear a hijab, Rahmalia Aufa Yazid continually figured that she would eventually carry one. Born and raised in Tokyo, she, first of all, didn’t sense that strongly approximately Islam, so she had observed her mother and father’s lead when it came to the faith.
When she sooner or later decided to place on hijab at age 18, it felt impersonal to her, and Yazid struggled with dressing in it.

“I felt that the hijab changed into a religious item of clothing, so I turned into choosing my clothes to suit,” the 24-year-old freelance author, who posts under her Instagram take care of. As a result, she found herself lacking out on famous Japanese fashion tendencies and feeling out of a location in college, in which she became the only hijabi scholar in her major. “Not most effective did I stand out as someone with overseas historical past, my everyday outfits now consisted of my mom’s antique hijab and clothes that have been one-of-a-kind from designs and colors that had been popular in Japan on time,” she stated. “Although it was my preference to wear the hijab, I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel as although the hijab was, as a substitute, sporting me,” she stated.

All that modified while she encountered the paintings of Hana Tajima, a mixed-race British and Japanese clothier who transformed to Islam in her young adults. It became best after she noticed Tajima’s Uniqlo modest put-on series that Yazid realized modest fashion didn’t must experience out of the area within the streets of Tokyo. “Her style did not experience find it irresistible became looking to be in particular fantastic, bright, or maybe traditional,” Yazid said.

“That was the moment the hijab changed from an impersonal, spiritual object of apparel to something that became actual to my existence,” she introduced. Yazid now combines Muslim and Japanese models within the town of Tokyo, sharing her self-images on her Instagram to her 14,000 fans. She calls Tokyo a “bloodless and stressed city,” in which human beings get dressed in impartial hues of black, white, beige, and khaki and in which vivid colors and putting patterns are rare.

She styles her hijab how Japanese human beings fashion their hair — to match their outfit and mood for the day. Just as Japanese people vary their hairstyles, from directly to bobbed, wavy to short haircuts, Yazid uses one-of-a-kind coloring, materials, and wrapping methods to interchange up her look. For example, the hijab can be wrapped asymmetrically to create an effect that’s just like bangs being swept to 1 aspect, she said. “I additionally add accessories to create an extra lively appearance,” she said. “I like hats, so I regularly put on a beret over the hijab.”

Or Yazid, Islam’s regulations in opposition to women displaying pores and skin is the element she enjoys maximum approximate fashion. Because hijabi fashion doesn’t allow women to expose off their neck, legs, or figures, it’s loads extra tough to come up with an outfit that still achieves an average balance, she stated. “But for me, that’s part of the fun,” she stated. “It’s like fixing a puzzle.”