Culture & Fashion Fusion: "Mipsterz" Muslim Hipsters

    Sheikh and Bake Productions released Somewhere in America #MIPSTERZ in December of 2013. Since then, this edgy snapshot of a few women's individual style and personality has sparked a lot of conversation in the world of social media. One of the producers of the video, Sara Aghajanian, says the purpose of the video is to stress the diversity of Muslim women. She explains in a recent NPR article that the inspiration for the video came from a trip she made to Iran. Aghajanian goes on to say;

"My family is from Iran, and growing up I remember the many media images of Iran with women wrapped in veils and chadors. When the opportunity came for me to visit Iran myself a few years ago, I saw the diversity of color and design in women's fashion. If you look around New York City and other places, you see the same thing. So the project really made me excited because it shows the unique reality that these women embody,"

    After watching the video, reading a few articles, and reading others opinions on the video, I can confidently say that I love their video and the message Sheikh and Bake Productions and the #Mipsterz crew are trying to portray. Obviously the women in the video do not represent all women of in American Muslim culture, this is a small group of young women embracing their own unique style while still holding onto their religious background. What I also think is amazing about this video is the fact that it shows diversity, it shows another kind of Muslim woman, one that is completely different from that we picture in our minds from news footage we see on TV.  

    Somewhere in America #Mipsterz video is showcases and sparks plenty of social and cultural topics, but its also shows great street style. These young women aren't just empowering and creative, they are trend-setters. #Mipsterz? I say High Fashion!


Check out the full NPR article Muslim 'Hipsters' Turn A Joke Into A Serious Conversation
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/12/28/250786141/muslim-hipsters-turn-a-joke-into-a-serious-conversation


Here's another interesting video Hijabistas: Inside the World of Muslim-American Fashion, about young Muslim American women and their story on fusing their Islamic and Western roots.