Nike empowers Muslim female athletes with groundbreaking sports hijab
Product news
Finally, female hijabi athletes get the gear they deserve.
- The Nike Pro Hijab was released in December 2017.
- It was designed to solve the performance constraints of traditional hijabs in sport.
- The pull-on design and single-layer Nike Pro cool mesh keep female athletes dry and comfortable.
- The lightweight product comes in XS/S and M/L sizes.
To recognise and empower Muslim female athletes, Nike introduced its Nike Pro Hijab in December 2017. This new, groundbreaking garment arose from the company responding to the needs of the hijabi community. In short, sports hijabs for women didn't exist, and traditional hijabs weren't cutting it for athletics.
With few options, top performers like Ibtihaj Muhammad, a Nike athlete and champion fencer, were forced to improvise garments. In fact, for her entire athletic career, Muhammad, who earned a bronze medal in Rio in 2016 for Team USA, had struggled to find the right fit. So, she'd tied her hijab at the back, pinning the front part under her chin and tucking any extra fabric under her sports bra straps.
Unfortunately, the doubled georgette fabric would become heavy and stiff when she sweated. Along with being uncomfortable, the hijab would obstruct her hearing so much that, sometimes, she'd be penalised for not hearing calls.
Muhammad wasn't the only athlete challenged by the inadequacies of traditional hijabs for sport. Nike designers had heard similar feedback from many others. To level the playing field, Nike Pro designers (who create base layers, the fabric layers closest to the skin) decided to create a prototype for a sports hijab.
After they developed an initial version, they asked athletes to test it. A panel consisting of pros (including weightlifter Amna Al Haddad and figure skater Zahra Lari, both from the United Arab Emirates) and non-pros (such as Manal Rostom, a Nike Run Club Coach in Dubai, and Zeina Nassar, a German boxer) offered input on its performance and appearance.
Nike refined the product based on the athletes' feedback gleaned over several rounds of wear testing. The resulting sports hijab is lightweight, soft, breathable and inconspicuous. Made from single-layer Nike Pro cool mesh—one of Nike's most breathable fabrics—it helps keep athletes cool and comfortable. Meanwhile, both XS/S and M/L sizes ensure the pull-on hijab fits a range of head sizes and face shapes without added bulk from adjustment mechanisms.
Introduced in December 2017, the Nike Pro Hijab is available on Nike.com and at selected retailers in Europe, North Africa, North America and the Middle East. Today, the company offers both Nike Pro (black, $38) and Nike Victory (black, $46) hijabs, the latter for swimming.
More than sportswear, the Nike Pro Hijab symbolises empowerment for Muslim female athletes. "The Nike Pro Hijab will help advance the conversation around hijabs and Muslim women in sport and further make sports an inclusive space", Muhammad said when the product launched.
"It's a reminder to us Muslim women that we can achieve anything in the world", noted Lari. "What Nike has done for Muslim athletes is a dream that we never thought would happen".
Words by Dina Cheney