ZINAH

For Marie Claire April 2015 print issue (now also on the website) 

Abstract: Religion is in rapid decline among young people, with only 25 per cent of 16-24-year-olds in Britain saying they believe in God. But millennials of different faiths are galvanising the need for cultural innovation, to ensure their religions remain relevant in an ever-changing world by redefining their religions. There are pop-up kosher restaurants like London’s Kosher Roast, and the ‘Mipsterz’ movement – ‘hipster Muslims’ using make-up and accessories to challenge the view that the hijab is a symbol of oppression. Elsewhere, style blogs including Hijab Style, Muslimah Beauty, Church Girl Chic and Jewish blog Fabologie offer tips on how to conform to modesty with style – and they are attracting thousands of hits every week. 

As extremist interpretations of religion continue to shock the world in increasingly horrific ways, young women are refusing to allow their faith to be tainted. Instead, they’re celebrating its place in modern life. Reina Lewis, Professor of Cultural Studies at London College of Fashion and author of the forthcoming Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures, says, ‘It’s a phenomenon that stems from young women who’ve grown up with consumer culture and the freedom to express their identity through it. And why shouldn’t that expression reflect their faith, too?’ Social media, she argues, has played a huge role. ‘It allows women around the world to share ideas, influence one another and, ultimately, shape the future of their faith.’ Meet three game-changers doing just that. 

‘I’m happy with my interpretation of my faith. I get hundreds of emails asking for advice’


Zinah Nur Sharif (above), 24, blogs at zinahns.blogspot.co.uk

‘A girl can never own too many headscarves. I have at least 20 and I use the colour and texture of the fabric as a starting point for my make-up each day. I keep my foundation and eye make-up subtle, with a bright lip. It’s about complementing the hijab, not distracting from it. 

Women have been waiting years for stylish scarves. Not many high-street ones are appropriate for the head, as they’re often too loudly patterned or made from synthetic fabric, so
I decided to design my own range. They’re plain, but in gorgeous colours and textures, and all natural fabrics, like cotton and silk. For winter, I use velvet and wool. 

There are too few Muslim women in the public eye. Growing up, I rarely saw hijabs on TV, and didn’t have successful, stylish-but-modest women to look up to. Things are changing now. The blogging world is an exciting place to be. I wish blogs like mine had existed when I was a teenager. They’re a place to talk about fashion and make-up, and explore female identity. Many Muslim women are encouraged into academia or to study law, but I studied fashion and graphic design because I wanted to follow my own path. 

Social media has brought back that sense of community. I’m active on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, so I can connect with young Muslim women as far away as Southeast Asia, New Zealand and America. It feels like a global movement that wasn’t possible until recently. We now have a platform to discuss and share positive ideas about our faith and interests.
Nobody’s forcing me to wear the hijab. I choose to because it’s an outward symbol of my commitment to my faith, and in the Koran, God states that women and men should dress modestly. Make-up and Islam are totally compatible. Some Muslims might disagree, because we’re not supposed to alter ourselves, but make-up is temporary – it washes off. I wear it for myself, and I find that empowering. 

There will always be criticism. People have said to me, ‘If you’re so modest, maybe you shouldn’t be posting photos of yourself online.’ But I’m happy with my interpretation of my faith, and I get hundreds of emails from girls asking for hijab-styling advice. 

Nothing in the Koran states that women are second-class citizens. The Prophet’s first wife Khadija was a successful entrepreneur, so in Islamic countries where women are suppressed, it’s because of cultural rather than religious reasons. With extremism rising, it’s more important than ever for me to show that I’m an independent, successful woman, as well as a good Muslim.’

Follow Zinah @zinahns

Let’s start with introducing my brand…properly!

Some of you may know by now that I have officially launched my luxury scarves fashion label ZINAH in November 2014 with the first Autumn/Winter 2014 collection titled London Expedition.

I haven’t been much talking or writing about the brand, mainly due to the reason of allowing people to get to know the brand visually and build their own understanding. I mean, where’s the mystery of giving it all away from the get go? 

It’s a self-named fashion brand, not a sick joke to call it after the arabic word ‘zina’ aka adultery. My name is Zinah, it has been always spelled that way and I’m not planning to change it’s spelling for a mere confusion of a coincidental transliteration of the word ‘zina’ (adultery) in the roman alphabet. I’m not going to go into details about this as it’s silly and self-explanatory. 

I would just like to point out that ‘Zinah’ pronounced “Zena” means beautiful ornaments in arabic, which carries a pleasant connotation. 

Growing up, my nickname has been ‘Xena the worrier princess’ from the infamous show from New Zealand. Naturally, I designed the brand’s logo around my name & nickname, with the capital Z and the crown above it. Plus, what more is luxurious than royalty? No, no I’m not a real princess, just the nickname ha!

Below is an illustration, breaking down the meaning of the logo, the connotations of the colour choices (white & gold) and just a better understanding of the logo overall. 

I’m sure some of you have wondered of why I started this label (I hope at least one person wondered?) Here is a diplomatic explanation of why I started this brand, without the dreamy aspect of always wanting to run my own fashion label. 

My interest in the amalgamation of fashion and modesty, combined with my fascination of natural fabrics, particularly silk has led me into specialising in handcrafted scarves. Respecting tradition of haute couture, all of the brand’s products are gently handmade in London. The brand only uses finest and most genuine materials with sincerity to reach true luxury. Swarovski Elements are the only embellishments used for designing some of the most beautiful pieces.

As a British fashion house, I yearn to express the British culture and diversity as a wealth and a source of inspiration.The British fashion house characterises femininity in its pure form celebrating the true beauty of women. The brand uses creativity as a universal language to inspire women to express their style identity. As the creative director of the brand I intend the brand to endeavour authenticity and creatively express elegance through the creation of both innovative and refined scarves.

Being fairly new in such a large industry, it’s vital for my brand to remain authentic in products, offering a one to one service to individual clients, nurturing the origins and home of the brand and to remain innovative. I believe this is what makes ZINAH somewhat unique, not to mention the affluent visual communications that come with it all. 

I know have a small but oh so lovely team working with me and as much as I love working with them, I still like to keep my brand personal to me and run it myself rather than have others do my posts, editing or anything that I’m very fussy & OCD about. I love you girls; Jihan, Nilofar & Sarah. 

Throughout the following weeks, I will talk in further details about the brand, the scarves, the collections and all behind the scenes that are so exciting to me (and hopefully to you too!). So stay tuned on my social medial pages on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter all @zinahns. 

It's always the same old song; the song about how busy I am, how life gets hectic, how I'm working on things and how I'm running my own business. It really isn't an excuse, just reality.

I mean, we're all so used to social media and the fast way of communicating, that we sometimes forget about reading longer articles, journals or even books. Well, at least that's my scenario.

I thoroughly enjoy reading, particularly books and magazines. That's including blogs too, as much as I like to blog, I read many others too.

I just needed a creative break from blogging, it really isn't my main career focus or as a matter of fact, any of my career focus at all. This blog is now more of my brand's blog rather than a random blog about random subjects. Reality is, it's been always my brand's blog, carving an image for what I have build today from day one.

It's never been too personal, I don't blab about my personal life, after all, it's in no ones interest. It's a creative blog, about my creativity, my inspirations, travelling and anything that really leads me into creating the most distinctive scarves, images and brand.

I've just launched my brand in November 2013, I haven't really talked about it much or introduced it to you lovely people in detail...I've launched the first A/W14 collection named 'London Expedition' and I was very happy with it.

The title being obvious, the collection was inspired by London but was also an introduction to the brand being London based. You'll be able to find out on my instagram & Facebook, as I have been posting about it on there more frequently.