现代穆斯林女性时装首次亮相旧金山博物馆

Modern Muslim Women’s Fashion Debuts¹ at San Francisco Museum

The head covering is among the most identifiable parts of Muslim women’s clothing.

Their choice of dress is often thought of as uncreative and restrictive to many Westerners.

A new exhibit in California shows that the covering used by some Muslim women can be very colorful.

The show, called “Contemporary Muslim Fashions,” opened September 22 at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. Visitors can see fashion products from nearly 60 designers from around the world, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

The clothes are colorful, beautiful and playful. They include high-priced, made-to-order fashions and bright, lively streetwear.

Creating a deeper understanding of fashion

The show is said to be the first major museum exhibition of its kind. Organizers say they hope to create a deeper understanding of the women who are part of the second-largest religion in the world.

Gisue Hariri is one of two Iranian-born sisters whose company designed the exhibit. She told the Associated Press that “Muslim women are being increasingly targeted for using their fashion choices to assert² their independence and identity. We hope that this exhibition will allow a positive review and examination of a community that’s often talked about, but rarely given the chance to speak and present itself,” she said.

The exhibit comes at a time of conflicts in Western countries over Muslim clothing.

Denmark’s government recently barred women from wearing face veils⁴ in public. It said the move was needed to ensure public safety and to support Danish values. Austria, Belgium and France have similar laws.

Jill D’Alessandro is the curator for costume and textile arts for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which includes the de Young Museum.

D’Alessandro said ideas for the exhibit started to develop before the election of Donald Trump⁵ as president of the United States. She said the issue was raised in 2016, when people in France protested a ban on “burkini” swimwear worn by some Muslim women.

At the same time, D’Alessandro said she was seeing examples of stylish⁶ “modest fashion” by young Muslim women who also wanted to show their religious beliefs.

Now, modest fashion has become a $44 billion industry, with more Western fashion houses creating products for Muslim people.

Last year, Nike began selling a headscarf made of high-technology fabric⁷. A Max Mara fashion show in 2017 had a model wearing a hijab and a long coat, which is a common look among wealthier Muslim women.

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding studies American Muslims. The group released a study that showed most women said they wear a hijab for religious reasons. Only one percent said they were required to do so by family.

Dalia Mogahed, the institute’s research director, is happy the de Young Museum agreed to the exhibit. Mogahed is not allied⁸ with the show. She says she objects to governments that force Muslim women to cover themselves in a certain way and those that won’t let women cover up as they wish.

One of D’Alessandro’s favorite finds is a 2012 “Hoody Dress” by British designer Sarah Elenany. She created long-sleeve, knee-length dresses for the Scout⁹ Association in the United Kingdom so Muslim girls could play sports and climb. The dresses were worn over leggings.

Also among the pieces is a traditional Pakistani wedding dress by Saba Ali, a San Francisco-area stylist who served as an adviser¹⁰ to the exhibition.

“I feel it’s so important in this day and age and the climate we live in. A lot of people don’t know Muslims,” Ali said. “Art is a means to a conversation for people to get to know a culture or people better.”

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

assert - v. to state (something) in a strong and definite way?

curator - n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum, zoo, etc.?

fabric - n. woven or knitted¹¹ material?

fashion - n. a popular way of dressing¹² during a particular time or among a particular group of people?

hijab - n. a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women

modest - adj. not showing too much of a person's body?

positive - adj. good or useful?

review - n. a report that gives someone's opinion about the quality of a book, performance, product, etc.?

veil³ - n. a piece of cloth or net worn usually by women over the head and shoulders and sometimes over the face?

wedding - n. a ceremony at which two people are married to each other

1 debuts   

演员首次演出( debut的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never really debuts the idea of taking money from his parents any longer. 他从此就再也没有认真起过向父母要钱的念头。
• This young soprano debuts next month at the metropolitan opera. 这位年轻的女高音歌唱家下个月将在纽约大都会歌剧院举行首演。

2 assert   

vt.断言，声称，维护，坚持

参考例句：

• I choose rather to hesitate my opinion than to assert it roundly.我宁可犹疑地表示我的意见而不愿直率地断言这件事。
• You must assert yourself or they will continue to bully you.你必须维护自己的权利，否则他们还会欺负你。

3 veil   

n.面纱，掩饰物，修女；vt.给...戴面纱或面罩；vi.带面纱或面罩

参考例句：

• Please veil your face.请用面纱遮住脸。
• There was a veil of mist over the mountains.山上覆盖着一层薄雾。

4 veils   

（绘画）层式法（在白色背景上涂一层薄而透明的油色，使，背景加染色彩，并能保持光泽的效果）； 面纱( veil的名词复数 )； 掩饰； 覆盖物； 薄薄的遮盖层

参考例句：

• The women wore veils in deference to the customs of the country. 这些妇女戴着面纱是遵从这个国家的习俗。
• In many Muslim countries, the women wear veils. 在许多穆斯林国家，妇女们蒙面纱。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

11 knitted   

v.（使）愈合( knit的过去式和过去分词 )；编结；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• I knitted this cardigan myself. 我自己织的这件开襟毛衣。
• Our two nations are knitted together by common concerns. 共同关心的问题使我们两国团结一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。