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Fashion has always been a passion for Samia Benchaou. It's a way for her to showcase her confidence and express her edgy personality. Even when Samia embraced her Muslim faith and adopted hijab, her knack for styling didn't disappear.
Born in Denmark to a Danish mother and a Moroccan father, Samia never envisioned a career in fashion. Growing up, she simply knew she loved bold, colorful, and eccentric clothing.
Raised by her mother after her parents' separation, Samia explored her Muslim identity in her early twenties. Three years after marrying and becoming a stay-at-home mom, the pull to revisit her old passion grew stronger.
«When I became a mother, I was just at home with my children», says the hijabi fashionista, who admits to having struggled with school. «School was very tough for me. It wasn't a good experience, so I didn't want to go back», she recalls.
A mother and a fashionista
In 2019, with her children growing up, Samia felt a renewed desire for purpose. «I was like, 'What am I doing? What do I want to do with my life?'» she remembers. «Then one of my friends said to me, 'Samia, why don't you get into fashion? You're so good at it!'»
Samia enrolled in a fashion school, determined to become a stylist. Unfortunately, the course coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting opportunities to fully grasp the field and connect with other stylists.
Undeterred, the mother of three knew she had potential. She decided to forge her own path as a hijabi stylist. She started attending fashion weeks and putting herself out there, but it wasn't enough.
The Danish fashion world, she explained, felt like a «closed club», particularly for someone who wore hijab. While pursuing her fashion dreams, Samia landed a job at Scandinavia's biggest shopping mall, surrounded by high-end brands.
«I was there for a year as a personal shopper,» she tells Yabiladi. «That was actually a proud moment because I was the first hijabi to work there».
Finding success through social media
After years of navigating the fashion industry, Samia decided to leverage social media's wider audience. In Ramadan of 2024, she began posting daily reels on Instagram and TikTok, showcasing how a hijabi woman could style bold, fashionable, and daring clothing pieces. To her surprise, her videos went viral. «I said to myself, why not try Instagram? Finally, I got the success I wanted», she recalls.
Samia's styling videos stood out from the crowd. Filmed in her living room, they resonated with a large audience of young women who wore hijab but hesitated to express themselves through fashion. Samia successfully defied norms, demonstrating that modest fashion could be fun and colorful.
«I think what people really liked was my personality», the stylist reflects. «My style and my personality. It's a combination. When I did the videos, they could see my personality, not just the styling».
With over 200k followers on Instagram and millions of views for her reels, Samia has inspired countless young hijabi women to embrace confident dressing. «I've gotten a lot of comments, even from non-Muslims inspired to dress more modestly, and also from hijabis who found inspiration to add more color to their wardrobes».
Overcoming criticism and looking ahead
The world of online fashion isn't without its negativity. Samia acknowledges receiving mixed views and even hateful comments. «In the Muslim community, there are people who love my style, and then there are others who think it's ridiculous or hate it», she says. «But then there's the 'haram police', who write comments like 'It's haram, you're not a hijabi'», she jokes.
Despite the negativity, Samia is happy to have achieved her dream of breaking the barriers. She hopes to inspire more hijabi girls to embrace their individuality. Additionally, she advocates for inclusivity in the fashion industry, hoping her videos will encourage clothing brands to better cater to the hijabi community.
«I remember in 2019, when I went to a Copenhagen fashion week, I only saw one hijabi attending», she recalls. «But things are changing». However, it saddens her that «we must pressure big fashion companies to be more inclusive. They know we exist, but they don’t want to have us in the picture», she lamented.
Samia wants to continue making outfit inspiration videos online for hijabis, she also dreams of attending fashion events in Morocco, her home country.
