DUBAI: British model and social-media star Mariah Idrissi is set to speak at South by Southwest (SXSW) — the annual gathering of film, media, tech and music in Austin, Texas.
Idrissi will take to the SXSW stage along with Melanie Elturk — founder of fashion brand Haute Hijab — on March 9 to discuss diversity in the fashion in a talk titled “Faith and Fashion: Why Representation Matters.”
“I’m so excited to be speaking at @sxsw about Fashion and Representation with one of my favorite girls in the whole world@hautehijab this is HUGE! Can’t wait!” Idrissi posted on her Instagram page this week.
Born and raised in London, Idrissi is of Moroccan-Pakistani descent and made headlines in 2015 when she became the first model to wear a hijab in a major international fashion campaign, starring in H&M’s “Close the Loop” adverts.
Since then, the 25-year-old has been at the forefront of the modest fashion movement, stylishly representing contemporary Muslim women and working with major retailers including MAC cosmetics and ASOS. She also featured in Rihanna’s Fenty beauty campaign.
Idrissi has also established herself as an international public speaker promoting female empowerment. Her talk at TEDxTeen in 2016 — “Changing the Face of Fashion” — gained global media attention.
Referring to the feedback from her H&M campaign in that talk, she said, “It made me realize that I’m not only a hijabi model, I’ve also had this weight placed on me as a spokeswoman for hijab, for modesty, for fashion, for Islam… And, of course, I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it shows me that we still have a long way to go in changing people’s mentalities.”
Mariah Idrissi to talk ‘Faith and Fashion’ at iconic US interactive festival SXSW
Mariah Idrissi to talk ‘Faith and Fashion’ at iconic US interactive festival SXSW
