Tribes of New York: Haute Hijabs

“Haute Hijab is a mission-driven company,” Elturk explained. “That why we do events like this. I want to empower Muslim women to feel confident, beautiful, and comfortable.”

Hanan, a fan of Haute Hijab, saw the event on Facebook. The dental student started wearing the headscarf at thirteen. “My mom told me not to, but I did anyway.” When asked where she got the one she was wearing, she laughed sheepishly. “Don’t tell Melanie, but it’s from hijab-ista.com.”

Leyth, a grad student, was one of two men in the room tonight. “I think it’s really important to engage with others and counter bigoted narratives in the media.”

“It’s never been an issue that I don’t wear a hijab,” Sabrine said. “It’s a deeply personal choice, and I have enormous respect for my fellow Muslims who do — mad props to them.”

Tehreem had only been in New York a few months; she moved here from the Middle East to earn her master’s at Columbia. Some of her friends have had their scarves pulled at and been verbally abused but, so far, the 22-year-old has not. “I’ve had people look at me funny but it could be for various reasons — maybe I had lipstick on my face.”

"I"m the only hijabi in my class,” Bushrah said of her master's nursing program, “but they’ve been so supportive. Since Trump’s election, people have really stood up for me.”

Melanie Elturk addressed the small but energetic group. "[Wearing the hijab] must be for yourself," she said. "Not anyone else."