Islam's All-Enveloping Hijab Is Hip in Indonesia
Thu December 18, 2003 08:08 AM ET
By Tomi Soetjipto

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=ourWorldNews&storyID=4014617

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Forget the stereotype image of
Muslim women draped from head to toe in all-enveloping
robes, or girls shrouded in modest white veils.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation,
the Islamic Hijab is hip, particularly among the rich
and upwardly mobile.

A walk through upscale shopping malls like Plaza
Senayan in the capital Jakarta is a real eye-opener.

Women are covering up, but with a dazzling array of
chic, colorful and often body-hugging Islamic clothes,
often complemented by the latest accessories.

Many smart department stores have opened separate
sections for Islamic clothes and stores offer an
assortment of magazines and books dedicated to design
and Islamic dress for the modern woman.

"Islamic dress has gone upper class," says fashion
designer Mira Aviva Zaki on the sidelines of her show
at Jakarta's Hilton Hotel.

Although most Indonesians have long opted for a
relatively liberal interpretation of the Muslim dress
code, the basic rule of covering the body from head to
toe still applies.

"But we have added more colors and styles," says Zaki.


And the latest styles are proving a real hit.

"For active Muslim women like me, I don't feel out of
fashion any more because there are so many styles and
colors to choose from," says banker Ani Mudiarti, her
head swathed in bright orange.

Under former leader Suharto, who lost power in 1998
after 32 years of iron-fisted rule, Islamic dress was
deemed unfashionable and carried a stigma of
backwardness and militancy.
This largely stemmed from Suharto's fear of creating
an alternative focus of power. A Muslim himself, he
discouraged strong public displays of Islamic values,
fearing a rise in fundamentalism.

Long regarded as a staunch defender of Javanese
mysticism, for most of his tenure Suharto promoted
pluralism, derived from the state ideology of
Pancasila.

As such, Hijab was only incorporated in official
uniform at public schools and government services in
the early 1990s, at a time when Suharto -- in the
twilight of his career -- was garnering all the
support he could.

Prior to that, religious dress could result in
expulsion from school, or losing your jobs at a
government office.

"Like any other discrimination there was no specific
rule banning the use of Islamic dress but social and
political pressure was so high," recalled Tuti
Herawati, managing editor of Alia magazine, a monthly
publication specializing in Muslim fashion for women.

In 1990, when Suharto gave his blessing to the
creation of an elite Muslim group openly dedicated to
the Islamization of Indonesia, public perceptions of
the Hijab started to change slowly.

Ironically it was Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, a business
mogul and Suharto's eldest daughter, who helped to
erode the negative public image after she decided to
cover her head with loose scarves.

But the boom in the business of Muslim fashion came
only after Suharto was forced to step down in the face
of the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

"In the past two or three years, new designers have
come up, especially at the middle to upper class
boutiques. Every month there is always a new one,"
said Herawati, whose magazine has tripled its
circulation since it was first launched last July.

FROM SEX BOMB TO COSMO MUSLIM

Even glamour models are embracing Muslim clothes.
Inneke Koesherawati, a former pin-up girl who once
posed for racy photographs for a glossy men's
magazine, recalled the day she decided to cover up.
"I just came back from the Haj (visit to Mecca) and my
body just didn't feel comfortable any more without
being covered," said Koesherawati whose past movies
such as "Metropolitan Girls," "Naughty Desires" and
"The Stained Bed" left little to the imagination.

Now Koesherawati insists those days are long gone.

"I don't feel old-fashioned, in fact I feel more
cosmopolitan," she says. "Society has now grown more
tolerant of Islamic dress."



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