The Italian fashion brand the United Colors of Benetton has released a new clothing line described as a unisex version of the Islamic veil known as the Hijab in partnership with an Italian-Tunisian rapper.
The new Benetton hijab is available in several different colours as well as a multicoloured version and bears branding from the Italian-Tunisian rapper Ghali, who is a partner with the fashion firm on the project.
The garment was revealed back in September at Milan fashion week, but has now been released for sale. Ghali, who is said to have designed the garment, commented on launch that, “The hijab is a unique garment that I absolutely wanted. There was no resistance from the company to include it in the collection. When I was a child, I was bullied at school, there was no one to represent me, whereas now it is normal.”
While the garment has been a subject of discussion in Spain for at least a week, it has now become a subject of intrigue in France, where there is a long history of controversy over hijab and burqa wearing in the officially secular nation. According to a report from the French broadcaster CNews, the new unisex hijab has been heavily criticised on social media by some, including a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s party Le Republique En Marche! (LREM).
LREM MP Aurore Bergé wrote on Twitter on Monday, “the inclusive hijab or identitarian madness, We first think of fake news because it seems crazy. But it’s up for sale. The advantage? You do not have to buy it. And no longer go to Benetton.”
French presidential hopeful Eric Zemmour, a conservative writer and television personality, stated that the garment represented “‘Wokism’ at the service of the Islamization of the Western world.”
Zemmour has seen a surge of popularity in recent polling for the first round of next spring’s French presidential election, with a poll released this week once again putting him in second place behind President Macron and in front of 2017 presidential runner-up Marine Le Pen.
The release of the Benetton hijab comes among the human rights organisation Council of Europe withdrawing a poster campaign that celebrated and promoted the Hijab that had the slogan “Beauty is in diversity as freedom is in hijab.”
The campaign saw heavy criticism in France, where Youth Minister Sarah El Haïry claimed to have been shocked by the posters and claimed the message was contrary to France’s secular society and values.
Marine Le Pen also commented on the campaign saying, “This European communication in favor of the Islamist veil is scandalous and indecent as millions of women courageously fight against this enslavement, including in France.”
” It is when women remove the veil that they become free, not the other way around!,” Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally (RN), added.
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