Nike designer tells French schoolgirls to defy Islamic abaya dress ban
A British Nike designer has sparked a row with French teachers by calling on schoolgirls to defy a new law banning the abaya, or whole-body dress.
London-based fashion influencer Saeedah Haque has designed modern variations of the robe-like “abaya” garment, intended to preserve modesty, which will be banned from state schools by the French State in line with its policy of preserving secular spaces.
British Bengali designer Ms Haque has urged French schoolgirls to attend school wearing abayas in defiance of the new prohibition.
The 25-year-old, who has partnered with the global brand Nike, has told her large social media following that she may offer the controversial garment for free to anyone who wears one to school.
“The abaya is not a religious garment, but a cultural one. It is not a symbol of religion,’’ Ms Haque said.
‘‘Bans on an ambiguous garment leaves sanctions up to the perception of head teachers and those in positions of power. This will not always be fair and in most cases rooted in discrimination of certain groups while allowing others such as those that are of closer proximity to whiteness.’’
Ms Haque also said: ‘‘Bans on modest clothing are dangerous and oppressive – you are giving girls an ultimatum and forcing them to uncover their bodies. They may be uncomfortable to do this for reasons that are not faith-related – perpetuating body insecurity and harassment. This creates a barrier to education far more harmful than any piece of clothing can.”
Ms Haque, who has been profiled in fashion magazine Grazia as a leader in “modest fashion”, has told her social media followers in video on Tiktok: “France’s ban on the abaya in schools this week doesn’t make sense and will continue to perpetuate the negative media narrative on conservative modest clothing.”
In the video cut with images of girls wearing the flowing abaya, which typically covers the body from the neck to the ankles, she added her new designs of the garment will drop “exclusive to France”.
It continues: “And if you send me a photo of you wearing it to school I might even refund your whole order.
“Streetwear was always a movement, so don’t act surprised, we haven’t even begun. How’s that for neutrality?”
Ms Haque has earned a large following after taking part in London’s first Modest Fashion Week in 2017, and has collaborated with Nike, a company whose social media accounts have promoted her clothing.
Her call to defy the prohibition announced this week by French Minister for Education Gabriel Attal has been condemned by the French trade union confederation UNSA, whose education wing represents teachers who will deal with the ban on the frontline.
Frédéric Marchand, general secretary of UNSA Education, told The Telegraph: “Education needs a safe and peaceful environment. All those who, for one reason or another, want to create a buzz around schools are irresponsible,” he said.
“They prevent us from concentrating on core issues. Sometimes they also seek to weaken the Republic.
“In France, laïcité (secularism) and its application in schools around the ban on the wearing of religious symbols or clothing that could be proselytising is an important freedom. It is freedom of conscience.
“You cannot be defined at school by your religious affiliation.”
The row comes amid rising tensions in France regarding Islam “separatism” from the country’s secular laws, intensified by recent nationwide riots and the 2020 decapitation of teacher Samuel Paty after he allegedly showed pupils a picture of cartoons depicting Mohammed.
President Emmanuel Macron pledged to tackle “separatism” in secular France, which banned the wearing of the full face veil in 2011, but has seen a move which has seen the abaya worn by some schoolgirls as it occupied a grey area.
This week, Mr Attal announced that pupils returning to school would be banned from wearing the abaya, saying: “We must stand together. We will stand together. The abaya has no place in school, no more than religious symbols.”
Speaking in a radio interview, he stated that secular rules were often tested by “infringements, attempts at destabilisation”, adding: “Public schools must, at all costs, perhaps more than any other institution, be protected from religious proselytism.”
While some polls show a large majority of the French population are against pupils being allowed to wear the abaya, there is debate in France over whether the garment is a religious symbol, with far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon calling the ban unconstitutional .
France bans all conspicuous religious symbolism in state schools and public buildings, and full-face coverings are also banned in public.
Nike has been contacted for comment.
