Muslim Fashion Images in Germany – An Ethnography of visual and discursive practices negotiating diversity

• Applicant: Dr. Laura Haddad
• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508406896

This research project is dedicated to the connection between social recognition of Muslim women and their media fashion images and fashion practices in the present.In Germany, Muslim clothing practices, especially those with a female connotation, are usually reduced to wearing a headscarf and were not considered fashionable. The veiling of Muslim women gave rise to legislative change initiatives, clothing bans and controversial debates about the image of women in Islam and was only very selectively perceived as a self-determined, aesthetically desired or even fashionable expression worth imitating.However, a recent shift in this hegemonic discourse can be observed in fashion and advertising campaigns as well as in fashion magazines. Social media such as Instagram play a central role here by offering young, not yet established actors a platform to share their perspectives with a broader public. As I will show with my project, the fashion world does not remain unaffected. High-circulation fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle have recently taken up and positioned themselves on topics such as diversity, anti-Muslim racism and gender equality. In addition, they participate in the perception and dissemination of Muslim fashion images.In my research project, I examine how Muslim women shape fashion as an important part of the visually accessible public. Using hybrid ethnography and situational analysis, I map the fashionable practices of Muslim social media actors and their discursive positioning in the negotiation of diversity and participation.The project thus illuminates the mediatized self-portrayal and recognition of German Muslim women as fashion actors. It examines how Muslim fashion images and media practices enter cultural knowledge and participate in the social fabrication of post-migrant aesthetics.This interest is operationalized by the following sub-questions:1. How do Muslim women in Germany give meaning to their respective (diverse) clothing practices in social media? What role does fashion play in the everyday life of social media actors?2. To what extent are Muslim fashion images and fashion bodies also perceived outside of the specific digital field and find their way into established fashion media and large textile retailers?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants