SBS Italian news, with a slower pace. This is Slow Italian, Fast Learning, the very best of the week’s news, read at a slower pace, with Italian and English text available.
Italian
È passato solo poco più di un mese da quando la radioterapista di Melbourne Hannan Ibrahim ha deciso di perseguire la carriera di modella a tempo pieno.
Eppure ha già sfilato per la stilista Lisa Gorman, compiendo un grande passo avanti per la sua carriera e un balzo enorme per la diversità nell'industria della moda australiana.
Ibrahim spera di aprire nuove opportunità per altre donne musulmane.
“Australia is known for being such a multicultural country and living in Melbourne you feel that. But in the fashion industry you don’t see it. So I hope to break down some stereotypes and pass certain boundaries that a lot of Muslims feel boxed in to.”
Questa settimana la 25enne sta facendo la storia.
Sfilando nella serata di gala del Melbourne Fashion Festival, Ibrahim è diventata la prima modella di sempre a partecipare all'evento con indosso un hijab.
Ha poi dichiarato che gli stilisti sono stati molto disponibili nel venire incontro alle sue esigenze di modestia.
“I have a bag I normally bring with me, of all the different colour hijabs and the stylists and designers normally pick from what I have to match the outfit, but the majority of the ones I’m walking for this week have actually custom made hijabs for me, which I was blown away by.”
Nata in Kenya con background somalo, l'amore per la moda di Hannan Ibrahim nasce nel negozio della madre, a ovest di Melbourne.
Ibrahim è la figlia di mezzo di 11 fratelli e sorelle e ha detto che indossare l’hijab non è sempre stato facile.
“Islamophobia has been on the rise for some time, so there have been some times when it is really difficult to wear a hijab, and be a visible Muslim right after something was aired in the media that was quite provocative and negative.”
Hannan Ibrahim sarà anche la prima modella ad indossare l’hijab sulle passarelle del Melbourne Fashion Festival, ma sicuramente non sarà l'ultima.
Graeme Lewsey, CEO dell'evento internazionale, ha dichiarato che si sta solo esplorando la superficie del potenziale della diversità nell'industria.
“Our model agents are training models from diverse backgrounds, that’s a change. And we’re really hoping it just doesn’t become an issue anymore, and it's just normal, the new normal.”
Lewsey ha aggiunto che l'industria della moda ha fatto molti passi in avanti, ma che c'è ancora molta strada da fare.
L'immagine di modelle supermagre e provenienti da una sola cultura, ha aggiunto, non è più appetibile.
“We cannot expect designers and the industry to just focus on a small minority, because it’s no longer relevant to generations, the emerging generations. If you’re not doing, it they’ll call it out.”
E mentre si prepara a raggiungere un altro picco della sua carriera al Melbourne Fashion Festival, Hannan Ibrahim spera che il suo successo ispiri altre giovani musulmane ad essere soddisfatte di quello che vedono allo specchio.
“I really hope to inspire other young women who are wearing the hijab, who also love the fashion, to see that there is a place for us.”
English
It’s been just over a month since Melbourne-based radiation therapist Hannan Ibrahim decided to pursue modelling full time.
Already, she's modelled for designer Lisa Gorman, marking a big step in her modelling career and a giant leap for diversity of the Australian fashion industry.
Ms Ibrahim says she hoping to open up new avenues for other Muslim women.
“Australia is known for being such a multicultural country and living in Melbourne you feel that. But in the fashion industry you don’t see it. So I hope to break down some stereotypes and pass certain boundaries that a lot of Muslims feel boxed in to.”
This week, the 25-year-old is making history.
Walking in Melbourne Fashion Festival’s opening gala, Ms Ibrahim is the event’s first hijab wearing model.
She says the designers have been only too willing to accommodate her modesty standards.
“I have a bag I normally bring with me, of all the different colour hijabs and the stylists and designers normally pick from what I have to match the outfit, but the majority of the ones I’m walking for this week have actually custom made hijabs for me, which I was blown away by.”
Born in Kenya, of Somali background, Hannan Ibrahim’s love of fashion was born in her mother’s boutique, west of Melbourne.
Ms Ibrahim is the middle child of 11 siblings, and she says wearing the hijab hasn’t always been easy.
“Islamophobia has been on the rise for some time, so there have been some times when it is really difficult to wear a hijab, and be a visible Muslim right after something was aired in the media that was quite provocative and negative.”
Hanan Ibrahim may be the first hijab wearing model on the Melbourne Fashion Festival runway, but she certainly won’t be the last.
CEO of the international fashion event, Graeme Lewsey, say they’re just scratching the surface of the industry’s diversity potential.
“Our model agents are training models from diverse backgrounds, that’s a change. And we’re really hoping it just doesn’t become an issue anymore, and it's just normal, the new normal.”
Mr Lewsey says the fashion industry has come a long way, but says it has a long way more to go.
He says the image of ultra thin, monocultural models is no longer desirable.
“We cannot expect designers and the industry to just focus on a small minority, because it’s no longer relevant to generations, the emerging generations. If you’re not doing, it they’ll call it out.”]]
And as Hannan Ibrahim prepares to mark another career high at the Melbourne fashion Festival, she's hoping her success will inspire other young Muslim women like what they see in the mirror.
“I really hope to inspire other young women who are wearing the hijab, who also love the fashion, to see that there is a place for us.”
Report by Abby Dinham
