Associated Press Writer – Richmond, Virginia.
The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University fashion students: design an abaya, an enveloping cloak worn by Muslim women, that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries.
The 10 abayas were shown recently at VCU’s annual student fashion show and are being shipped to Doha, Qatar’s capital, for a fashion show at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar.
In designing their abayas, the Richmond-based students worked with VCU’s Qatari fashion design students and graphic designers in a cultural exchange of sorts. The U.S. students made their first sketches and sent them to Qatar for initial critiques. They then assembled revised sketches, instructions and sample garments and shipped them to Doha. The Qatar team critiqued and tweaked the designs, then had a tailor construct the abayas and had locals do the beading and embroidery. The garments were then returned to VCU for finishing and final embellishments.
The project was part of Kim Guthrie’s “Give Me Shelter” class, during which her students discussed the idea of clothing as shelter and how different cultures address the concept of clothing.
“The students talked about why girls `cover’ – is it cultural or religious?” said Guthrie, who traveled to Doha this spring to oversee production of the abayas. “There’s a huge spectrum of how covered or uncovered they are, dependent on family and tradition.”
Abayas are the traditional overgarment in the Persian Gulf nations of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Oman. They also are worn in Iraq and some other Arab nations. Women and girls wear the black abaya, a lightweight crepe garment that includes a head covering called a shayla, in the presence of men and boys who are not immediate family members.
