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US fashion students design abayas with help from Qatar
The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University fashion students: design an abaya that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries.
- AP
- Published: 15:59 May 13, 2008
- Students at Virginia Commonwealth University were tasked with creating stylish abayas.
- Image Credit: AP
Virginia: The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) fashion students: design an abaya that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries.
The results: elaborately beaded designs, a flamenco-influenced abaya, a punk rock abaya—and perhaps better understanding of cultural norms in Qatar where the university has had a campus for 10 years.
"We were trying to make a feeling of youth—but still be true to their culture," said Kendra Palin, a fashion design major who partnered with classmate Shelby Day to design an abaya with looped buttonholes, princess seams and a high waist. "Everything else had to be black, but the embellishment could be any colour, and we used silver and blue."
The abayas were shown recently at VCU's annual student fashion show and are being shipped to Doha for a fashion show at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar.
In designing their abayas, the Richmond-based students worked with VCU's Qatari fashion design students and graphic designers in a cultural exchange of sorts.
The US students made their first sketches and sent them to Qatar for initial critiques. They then assembled revised sketches, instructions and sample garments and shipped them to Doha.
The Qatar team critiqued and tweaked the designs, then had a tailor construct the abayas and had locals do the beading and embroidery. The garments were then returned to VCU for finishing and final embellishments.
The project was part of Kim Guthrie's Give Me Shelter class, during which her students discussed the idea of clothing as shelter and how different cultures address the concept of clothing.
"The students talked about why girls 'cover'—is it cultural or religious?" said Guthrie, who traveled to Doha this spring to oversee production of the abayas. "There's a huge spectrum of how covered or uncovered they are, dependent on family and tradition."
Palin said the abaya she designed isn't completely westernized, "but it's fun and fashionable" for her intended wearer: a 20-something woman.
She said she found it interesting that women can wear "pants and cute little tops" underneath and shed their abayas in women-only gatherings.
"Hopefully, if nothing else, those 20 people in my class have gained a more neutral approach to what goes on in the world," Guthrie said. "Just because the women wear this doesn't mean they're oppressed."
Would you wear such abayas? Do you think such styles are offensive or are they just a reflection of globalisation? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form belowe for your comments.
Your comments
An Abaya doesn't have to be ugly to hide beauty, I don't see the problem if it was stylish as long as it serves the purpose of hiding the woman's body.
Ahmed
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2008, 16:19
The purpose of the Abaya is to hide from the public. In Islamic concept women should not reveal their beauty except to their husbands. If this is the purpose then why are they turning it into fashion. It's not meeting the purpose of Abaya.
Sakkeer
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2008, 10:46
If I am not wrong - Abayas are meant to conceal the figure and not visa versa.
Joseph
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 14, 2008, 07:42
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