Minnetonka hijab maker debuts Nordstrom collection

A young entrepreneur launches a luxury hijab line at Nordstrom.

By Rachel Hutton

(STAR TRIBUNE) A few years ago, 26-year-old Hilal Ibrahim of Minnetonka was looking for a dressy hijab to wear to for Eid, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

Nothing she found was quite right. Major retailers sell all kinds of beautiful scarves, but they weren’t long enough, or the fabric was too sheer, or didn’t lie well when wrapped around the head.

So Ibrahim headed to S.R. Harris, the massive Twin Cities fabric outlet, and began sewing her own hijabs. By 2017, she’d launched her own company, Henna and Hijabs.

Ibrahim first became known for hijabs designed for health care workers and now, through a new collaboration with Nordstrom, she’s bringing luxury hijabs into a major department store.

Ibrahim began volunteering at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park when she was 14, and after turning 18, she worked in a variety of health care jobs, from receptionist to certified nursing assistant.

One day Ibrahim was working as a phlebotomist in the emergency room and got a patient’s blood on her clothes. Since the hospital stocked backup scrubs in the employee locker, but no hijabs, she had to go home and change. Ibrahim also noticed that if a patient needed a clean hijab, the only thing the hospital could offer was a blanket or towel.

Her design of a medical-grade hijab — made in durable, breathable jersey that won’t slip, in a shorter length so the fabric doesn’t get in the way, with slits to accommodate stethoscopes and masks — was groundbreaking.