Close the Loop: H&M’s diverse cast in latest ad campaign includes a hijab-wearer
updated the 6 October 2015 à 22:22
In its Close the Loop ad campaign, fashion retailer H&M featured a hijab model among the diverse cast. Could Muslim fashion soon be made mainstream?
H&M has had everyone talking since releasing its ad campaign, Close the Loop, which features a diverse, unconventional cast of models. Among the cast members were a group of Sikh men, plus-sized curvy model Tess Holliday, an amputee, and hijab (Muslim headscarf) model Mariah Idrissi.
The British-born Pakistani-Moroccan was reportedly scouted via Instagram, and then called up to join the campaign. She runs her own Moroccan-inspired nail, henna and makeup salon in London and models occasionally. The campaign aimed to encourage consumers to recycle their clothes and addresses the supposed fashion rules that have been set for decades – such as wearing red if one is a red head, the controversial socks-and-sandals combo, androgynous dressing and more. Mariah Idrissi’s scene rolls while the narrator mentions, “Look chic.”
The campaign is arguably one of the most inclusive fashion campaigns of all time, and is a large step in featuring Muslims in mainstream fashion. That said, more and more labels have recently been opening up and targeting the large Muslim clientele, with Ramadhan collections being released for example. Oscar de la Renta and DKNY were among those that launched such lines, while Christian Siriano looked to Middle Eastern fashion for his Spring 2016 inspiration and Uniqlo launched its collaboration with blogger Hana Tajima for a hijab-friendly collection. While sustainable fashion was the aim for H&M’s campaign, we think it also did a remarkable job of addressing and including people of various ethnicities, cultures and clothing styles that relate to a larger pool of customers. As H&M would say, “There are no rules in fashion.”
Nur Syazana H.
