Fashion World Beware, Islamic Motifs Are A No No

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently announced that popular fashion design company, Liz Claiborne Inc., would recall an offensive line of DKNY jeans that contain verses from the Qur’an as a design. The jeans have verses from Surat Yasin (36:65-67) on the back pocket of the pants. After receiving several complaints from American Muslims, CAIR contacted the company and met with officials to discuss the matter. The company agreed to recall and dispose of the jeans, apologize to Muslims worldwide, and to partake in religious and cultural sensitivity training.

In a statement, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad acknowledged the quick and sensitive reaction by Liz Claiborne officials to rectify the situation, adding that the incident was “unfortunate and apparently unintentional”. CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad pointed out that the Claiborne case could serve as an important reminder to corporations dealing in international markets to be mindful of religious and cultural sensitivities.

This is not the first time CAIR has intervened to confront designers in the fashion industry. Fashion designers have for some time now embraced Indian and Middle Eastern influences for popular clothing designs to showcase on the catwalk. So it was only a matter of time that Islamic motifs would find their way on fashion designer cutting tables. In 1994, a similar incident occurred when designer Karl Lagerfeld introduced a low cut dress that contained an embroidered passage from the Qur’an in his Chanel collection runway show. The passage on the dress was said to have read: "They are the ones who found guidance,” according to the Detroit News. Lagerfeld apologized to Muslims worldwide and destroyed the dresses after the show.

In 1997 Nike recalled 38,000 shoes, which offended Muslims because of a logo design on the shoe that resembled the written Arabic word for "Allah," or God. Nike said the logo was meant to look like flames for a line of shoes to be sold with the names Air Bakin', Air Melt, Air Grill and Air B-Que, according to the Associated Press.

After meeting with CAIR representatives, Nike not only recalled the shoes and adopted sensitivity training for its designers, but also agreed to sponsor a community development project that would construct playground facilities at several Islamic centers and schools nationwide; the first at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., according to CAIR. Nike also agreed to donate Nike products to Islamic charitable groups chosen by CAIR, to sponsor events in the Muslim community, and to produce educational CDs and videos.

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