The next sporty must-have is not just for Muslim women

Move over, Nigella’s burkini – you are so last season. The latest addition to the modest Muslim wardrobe is the ResportOn, a sleek sports hijab designed for female Muslim athletes who like to keep their hair covered while working up a sweat

The ResportOn, whose tagline is “Be Yourself. Unveil your performance”, is the brainchild of Iranian-born French-Canadian designer Elham Seyed Javad

She came up with the idea after five Muslim girls were banned from competing in tae kwon do tournaments in Montreal because of their hijabs (the headscarves were considered a health and safety risk). Javad, who doesn’t wear a headscarf herself, heard about the ban and figured there must be a way to make it easier for hijab-wearing women to participate in sports

Made from a white antiperspirant sports fabric, it’s a tight-fitting hoodie attached to a turtle-neck T-shirt, with a special opening at the back allowing easy access for wearers to readjust their hair. Each one is custom-made in Javad’s Montreal studio, where she was set to design hijab tops for the Iranian women’s football team for the Olympics next year – only they’ve just been banned from a crucial qualifying match by Fifa, which forbids players displaying “political, religious . . . or personal messages”.

Javed receives orders from Muslim women all over the world, but also from non-Muslim women and men wanting to keep long tresses out of their faces while exercising. Perhaps we’ll see the shaggy-haired Barca captain Carlos Puyol in one soon

Explore more on these topicsShare
Reuse this content