Mona Khalifa reveals Melbourne Fashion Festival execs ignored her after Allah symbol controversy

An outraged model has revealed that PayPal’s Melbourne Fashion Festival executives stood her up despite promises of meetings after a label put models in “embarrassing” see-through garments emblazoned with the Arabic symbol for “Allah.” “.

Mona Khalifa, 29, contacted MFF CEO Caroline Ralphsmith and COO Deirdre McGuane after the Not A Man’s Dream label was accused of disrespecting Muslim communities. and Christian Arabic.

The model said she was promised phone meetings with Ms. Raphsmith and Ms. McGuane, but the couple canceled at the last minute and did not respond to requests to reschedule.

“I had a whole list of questions for them and that never happened, and there was no one to pursue that,” Ms Khalifa told the herald sun Thursday.

‘The Melbourne Fashion Festival prides itself on inclusivity and diversity (gender, body size), which is absolutely amazing, but what about people’s beliefs and religions?’

Ms Khalifa explained that she followed up on the request, but only received a generic email outlining MFF’s plan to ‘engage with official cultural institutions’ and ‘improve cultural awareness and education’.

The model added that she was the ‘only hijabi’ invited that night and that Muslim communities are not going to have ‘any peace of mind’.

Melbourne label NOT A MAN’S DREAM, founded by Samantha Saint James in 2022, printed the Arabic text for ‘Allah’ on the outfits worn by the models on Saturday night, some of which were see-through.

“I’m much more equipped to talk about this because I’m in the fashion scene, and if they contact someone else in the Islamic world, they won’t be able to represent that as well as someone in the real fashion world,” she said. aggregate.

The Arabic symbol for ‘Allah’, or God, is sacred to Muslims, and followers of the religion believe that disrespecting the symbol is tantamount to disrespecting Allah.

Ms Khalifa added that a model contacted her and refused to wear the dress because she believed it was “disrespectful to Muslims”.

‘Something should have been done when the models refused to wear the garments in the first place. It is sad that they have even been put in that awkward position,” she added.

The Arabic symbol for ‘Allah’, or God, is sacred to Muslims, and followers of the religion believe that disrespecting the symbol is tantamount to disrespecting Allah.

Melbourne brand NOT A MAN’S DREAM, founded by Samantha Saint James in 2022, printed the Arabic text for ‘Allah’ on the outfits worn by the models on Saturday night, some of which were see-through.

PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival said in a statement on Sunday: “We understand that certain pieces shown as part of last night’s closing Catwalk have offended some members of our community.”

‘The Festival has not intended to disrespect anyone and we apologize for any offense caused.

The spokesman for Australia’s National Council of Imams, Bilal Rauf, told The Age that he criticized the label for “impolite and disrespectful”.

“We have been in contact with the designer of NOT A MAN’S DREAM and together we have agreed to remove certain content from our channels.”

In an additional statement obtained by The Sydney Morning Heralddesigner Saint James said: ‘I apologize for any offense or disrespect caused by certain pieces I showed on the MFF catwalk on Saturday night.

‘I have come to understand how some clothes have offended. It was the opposite of my intention and for that, I am very sorry.

Ms Khalifa was among those who raised concerns after attending the show, calling the display “vile”.

He noted that one of the models was wearing a see-through version of the garment and appeared to be braless underneath.

“I couldn’t contain my anger, I couldn’t put this off any longer,” she began in a series of Instagram Stories posts.

Ms Khalifa was among those who raised concerns after attending the show, calling the display “vile”.

“This designer, Not A Man’s Dream, had this on the runway, it has the word Allah on it, look how she’s dressed, she’s literally naked and she has the word Allah all over her body.”

“Honestly, there’s a fine line between art and disrespect, this falls way above disrespect,” Mona continued.

“There is no reason for someone to put the word Allah or anything Islamic in something like this, literally no reason, you could have put any other Arabic phrase.”

‘Honestly, I don’t care if they stop inviting me to these events. Disrespecting my religion is where I draw the line, this is vile. Shout out to the models who refused to walk for that designer,” she added.

Australia’s National Council of Imams spokesman Bilal Rauf said Age criticized the label for “impoliteness and disrespect.”

“The use of certain words and symbols that have religious significance should be used with respect,” he said.