Introducing the First Soccer Jersey With a Hijab
Uniqlo and Dolce & Gabbana have taken steps towards making fashion more inclusive with hijab collections and now that momentum is expanding to sports. On Tuesday, athletic brand Hummel debuted the first soccer jersey with a built-in hijab for the Afghanistan women's soccer team.
FIFA approved of players wearing religious head coverings during games two years ago. The full uniform includes a base layer allowing players to be comfortably covered head to toe during the game if they prefer to be.
The hijab jersey was developed with the Afghanistan Football Federation and Khalida Popal, former captain of the Afghanistan women's football team. Popal's career came to an end when she suffered a knee injury, but she continues to be a role model for young girls and women athletes in Afghanistan.
"When I started soccer I came with one goal, that I will work a lot with women's equality," she says in a promo video, "Football wasn't only a game for me, it was more like a tool to empower women."