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Nyla Hashmi, 21, is a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She now works at designer Elie Tahari as an Assistant Designer for Sweaters. The daughter of a Pakistani father and American mother, Nyla spent half her school years in Lahore and the other half in Connecticut. When her family moved to the U.S., Nyla had to make several transitions that are hard for any teenager at a new school, but particularly so for a young woman with her background.
“Going to high school in Connecticut was such a huge change from the American School in Lahore that I attended in Pakistan,” she says. “It was very difficult at first to find clothes to wear that were both fashionable and that let me maintain my desire to be modest, as a Muslim.”
Always interested in fashion from a young age, Nyla’s passion for fashion designing was fueled by her mother teaching her how to sew. Bringing together her interest and the need to find fashionable clothes she was comfortable with, she made her own prom dresses as a junior and senior in high school.
Together with her childhood friend Fatima, also a fashion designer in New York City, Nyla aspires to start her own company designing clothes. “They would be aimed not just at Muslim women, but for anyone who wants to be stylish and sophisticated but modest,” she says.
Nyla reads WWD, L’Officiel and Harpers Bazaar regularly and loves Elie Tahari clothing because they design things she can wear comfortably. She thinks fashion and Islam go very well together. “If you notice, current fashion often reflects Islamic culture. Look at Chloé wraps and Prada turbans! There are lots of designers who look to the Middle East or South Asia for influence,” she explains.
Posted September 2007
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