Nike
to launch high-tech hijab for female Muslim athletes
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[March 09, 2017]
By Laila Kearney
(Reuters) - Nike Inc <NKE.N> will
launch a hijab for female Muslim athletes early next year, becoming
the first major sports apparel maker to offer a traditional Islamic
head scarf designed specifically for competition, the company said
on Wednesday.
The head covering, marketed under the "Pro Hijab" brand, is designed
to allow athletes to observe the traditional Islamic practice of
covering the head without compromising performance.
Made from a lightweight, flexible material, the hijab is expected to
hit stores shelves in early 2018, Nike said in a statement.
In recent years, the hijab has become the most visible symbol of
Islamic culture in the United States and Europe. Many Muslim women
cover their heads in public with the hijab as a sign of modesty, but
some critics see it as a sign of female oppression.
With sensitivities over immigration and the perceived threat of
Muslim extremism running high, the head scarf has led to attacks
against Muslim women. At the same time, the hijab has evolved in a
symbol of diversity that Nike has embraced.
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The Women's March on Washington, held the day after President Donald
Trump's inauguration, used the face of a woman wearing a hijab in an
American flag pattern as its promotional image.
Muslim athletes visiting Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon,
just outside of Portland, have complained about the difficulties of
wearing a hijab while competing, according to the company.
The company consulted with Muslim women athletes from around the
world, including Middle Eastern runners and cyclists, in the
designing the hijab.
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![](../images/030917pics/sports61.jpg)
A woman poses in a Nike hijab being developed for Muslim women
athletes, in an undate photo released by the company March 8, 2017.
Vivienne Balla/Nike/Handout via REUTERS
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Other companies have also set their sights on hijab
sales to Muslim athletes.
Last year, Danish sportswear company Hummel unveiled a soccer jersey
with an attached hijab for the Afghanistan national women's soccer
team.
Non-professional women Muslim athletes have used athletic hijabs
made by smaller companies.
But Nike's annual net sales in the billions, and its reach in
popular culture, can do more to bring Muslim athletes into the fold,
said Amna Al Haddad, a Nike sponsored weightlifter from the United
Arab Emirates who consulted on "Pro Hijab."
"(It will) encourage a whole new generation to pursue sports without
feeling there is a limitation because of modesty or dress-code,"
Haddad said.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Richard Chang) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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