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Muslim Fencer Named Amongst Best Female Fencer of the World
1-11-2016
When Ibtihaj Muhammad was 13 years old, her mother drove past a school and saw athletes training in full body covering gear. Her mother did not know what the sport was called, but she turned to face Ibtihaj and said; I do not know what that is but you are doing it. The uniform which they wear for fencing basically inspired her. This is the only sport in which your body is fully covered from head to toe. So, as for the Muslim girl it was the best chance to be an athlete.
Today she is the worlds 10th swords woman, and is Americas first Muslim Fencer in the world. To make her parents and all of us proud she was also named the worlds best female fencer.
While living in a western country, she found the suitable outfit to wear in the fencing strip, but as for her casual routine it’s always difficult to find conservative dresses. Now the market for such decent clothes in western countries has risen up enough. Even it has been reported that the Muslim consumers are spending too much money.
So, the idea came to Muhammad’s mind to launch a clothing company with her siblings. They named it as Louella which is their paternal grandmother’s name. They threw up 26 dresses online; named after their family members. All dresses are full-length for the women who want to cover their body. They had a big success that whenever they show up some dresses, it sold out. During their first six months, they sold 3000 outfits from 52 catalog designs and at the end of the year, their income was $250,000.
They opened up their first outlet in Detroit and there was hardly any woman who wasn’t holding their pink shopping bags. Ibtihaj and her sisters are doing really hard work for this business by updating the web page or boxing up the orders and even as models for the website designs.
Muhammad said that as the clothing is specifically for Muslim women, some non-Muslims inquired if they could buy it too and she informed them that anyone can. Ibtihaj Muhammad’s brother Qareeb Muhammad, who operates everything for the company in Los Angeles said that it would be great seeing Michelle Obama or Malala Yousaf Zai (Pakistani Nobel prize winner) wearing their dresses.
Ibtihaj Muhammad did a double major in international relations and Africa-American studies. She had a great deal to do with fencing still she gives time to her business. Once she had to work for continuous 4 hours when a mistake was made while tying the tags to the dresses. She believes in perfection that’s why out of 700 online orders only 20 were returned.
We as Muslims are proud of her, and her achievements. Her teammates are also proud of her that she manages everything with such capability.
Here is a link to her clothing boutique: http://www.louellashop.com/
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