Nike Hijab Pro and Victory Swimsuit Collection

Three years ago, Nike made headlines by designing the Pro Hijab, a sports scarf for Muslim women to don during sports.

Although it wasn’t the first company to do so, it certainly is the first major sporting brand to design a breathable headscarf. Many hijab wearing athletes, including Ibtihaj Muhammad, lamented on the fact that it was hard for her to find a hijab that was suitable for her to compete and train in. She realized that that Pro Hijab was better at cooling and regulating her body temperature. The Nike Hijab Pro is currently selling for $35.

Very recently, Nike released a new swim line, the “Nike Victory Swim Collection”. This collection of swimsuits were designed with modesty in mind and unlike typical swimsuits, covered the body modestly. As a swimmer myself, I was rather impressed with this because Nike dedicated a lot of research and development into making this. A lot of modest swimming suits that I have seen myself usually doesn’t last very long, isn’t suitable for doing laps and is baggy and is just not very water streamlined. This new swimwear lifts the barriers to swim for women who desire more modesty and for hijab-wearing women.

Nike certainly has stepped up, by providing sports wear for women who don the hijab and even sports wear for plus sized women, With this, I do hope more major brands take up this challenge, to provide all sorts of wear catered to different types of people, and to remove any barriers that might be hindering people to perform sports, or to express themselves.