A 35-year-old Malaysian businesswoman recently purchased a custom-made hijab for approximately $12,000 from luxury retailer Bawal Exclusive. The company recently held a press conference to announce the item as their most expensive hijab.
Rabat – The material, imported from Japan, is embellished with Swarovski crystals which form a shiny, textured floral pattern.
It is the most expensive hijab to date and a product from Bawal Exclusive, a Malaysian hijab brand that’s known for selling exclusive hijabs made with Swarovski stones.
The Booming Sahara hijab broke the record set by Bawal Exclusive itself last year after another limited edition hijab went up for sale for RM33,000 (approx. $7,873).
While Uzbekistan and Austria have deemed the hijab prohibited in their respective academic systems, in Malaysia, the hijab has come to also symbolize wealth and status. There, designer scarves as expensive as $8,000 are trending.
A possible reason as to why a religious garment, which is traditionally a symbol of modesty, is now also a status symbol, is the upward mobility many Malaysian female millennials are now afforded thanks to education and economic improvements.
Vice says that today Malaysian women are “richer, more educated and better traveled than ever before, they are redefining their roles at work, in society, and at home. The perfect accessory for this newfound status? Luxury hijabs.”
Vice Fashion reports, “Women’s labor force participation is now 54.7 percent, nearly double the figure in the 70s and 80s. In universities, they outnumber men.”
