Meet Hijarbie, The Hijab-Wearing Barbie Making It Big On Instagram

Days after we became acquainted with Barbie's new (and overdue!) body types, there's yet another sorely needed Barbie on the block. She's not Mattel-official, alas, but @Hijarbie, the hijab-clad Barbie, is taking Instagram by storm.
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Photo: Courtesy of @Hijarbie.

Created by Haneefah Adam, the account has been live for past seven weeks; Adam has amassed over 7,300 followers thus far. The 24-year-old, who lives in Nigeria, has crafted ultra-stylish hijabs and abayas in pint-sized proportions.

Each outfit (there are a dozen ensembles at the moment) takes Adam one to three hours to design, style, and photograph on the doll, she told Refinery29.

The account started as a creative outlet for Adam, who's in the process of launching a modest lifestyle brand, Hanie. But there's a grander takeaway intended: "By 'hijabifying' a doll, a sense of value is created [for] a Muslim girl," Adam told Refinery29.

The result, she hopes, is that a young girl scrolling through Hijarbie's chic getups will "become more confident, more driven, and believe more in herself, which leads to an appreciation of herself and her modest lifestyle and upbringing."

Hijarbie arrives a month after Dolce & Gabbana ^[3] rolled out its first-ever line of hijabs and abayas (a rare, overlooked category among luxury labels) and not long after Uniqlo's inaugural modest collection ^[4]. Plus, she's a for-all-ages addition to the ever-expanding modest fashion scene, which includes sites like MuslimGirl.net ^[5] and style blogs like Hipster Hijabis ^[6].

As for Hanie, Adam's modest lifestyle brand, HanieCollection.com will be live in roughly two weeks, replete with modest outfits (scaled for humans, not dolls) as well as accessories available for purchase in Nigeria. Eventually, Adam plans to sell home goods on the site, as well.

While you can't buy one of Adam's stylish, hijab-attired dolls yet, you'll be able to soon: Hijarbie will soon have her very own website. "There has been a lot of demand for the dolls," Adam says, and the forthcoming site will let Hijarbie fangirls order one (or, most likely, a few) of the well-dressed figurines.