The Pro Hijab is now in stores and online.
It’s been named the ‘most important’ design of the year, and now you can finally get your hands on Nike’s game-changing sports hijab.
The modest sportswear item is made specifically for Muslim athletes, and news of its launch made headlines earlier this year.
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Crafted in breathable, stretchy mesh fabric, the back of thePro Hijab is longer to ensure it stays tucked in, while the fabric is studded with tiny, imperceptible holes to keep the wearer cool.
And you can now try it for yourself, after the item launched in stores and online on December 1.
Priced at Dhs99, the 155-gram hijab comes in three shades—obsidian, black and grey—and is on Nike.com and at select retailers in the UAE (we saw it over the weekend in The Dubai Mall’s Nike store).
The veil was intensively tested by headscarf-wearing athletes during development, including Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari, who stars in campaign imagery for the item.
“The Nike Pro Hijab may have been more than a year in the making, but its impetus can be traced much further back, to an ongoing cultural shift that has seen more women than ever embracing sport,” Nike said in a press release earlier this year.
The brand said it was inspired by a conversation with Emirati weightlifter Amna Al Haddad, who used to compete while wearing the hijab.
“[She] recounted how the garment’s weight, the potential for it to shift during action and its lack of breathability disrupted her focus,” Nike said.
“She also detailed her extreme difficulty finding performance hijabs; Amna had only one competition-worthy covering, so she had to hand wash it every night during competitions.”
The hijab was worn for the first time during a major race just last month, when Dubai-based runner Manal Rostom donned the item for the New York Marathon.
The Pro Hijab also made its catwalk debut in October, at season 10 of Fashion Forward, when Saudi designer Mashael Al Rajhi incorporated the garment into her show.
The high-performance hijab has won praise for acknowledging the needs of Muslim women in the industry and sending a positive message of inclusion.
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“I support Muslim women with or without hijab, and how they dress is their choice,” said the weightlifter.
“Without us athletes who fought for this right and made it happen, Nike wouldn’t ‘just do it’.”
Images: Supplied, Ibtihaj Muhammad/Instagram
