published in the November 2019 print issue of Groove magazine

The café is slowly filling up. In the back corner, a lone woman is quietly browsing on her cellphone. She can’t be missed.

Though donning neutral colors, she stands out due to her hijab. Iman Mohamed, up close, is a striking beauty. Her face glistens and her eyes are the most arresting of her features. Talking with her, you’ll understand why she has garnered a big following for both her YouTube channel and Instagram accounts – both named Hijabi in Seoul City. She is not just another influencer.

Iman is a Somali-American currently living here in Seoul. Armored with her Journalism degree from the University of Minnesota, where she got the chance to study Japanese, French and Korean to add to her English and Swahili, she eloquently speaks her mind in a non-intimidating fashion. Undoubtedly, she had seen and lived in different cultures, but why and how did she become fascinated with Korea?

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“Pink isn’t just a color. It’s an attitude, too.” 😌 . . . . . . 📸 @asyariphotography 💫 . . . . . #일상 #데일리 #데일리룩 #메이크업

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Her story isn’t a unique one. Her love affair with Korea started with Full House and Rain’s (비) music. She was delightfully surprised that a Korean singer – and actor – can sing impressive R&B. She was captivated from then on and the rest is history.

She came to Korea in 2012 for a one-month vacation. Proficient in the Korean language, she took the time to explore Korea’s various cities and took it as a chance for “full-on immersion when it comes to speaking the language.” Contrary to what her mother hoped for – that she was going to get over Korea – she came back in 2015 with a teaching certificate on top of her journalism degree.

And she became active on Instagram and YouTube. She maintains she is not a big social media influencer, yet the number of followers she has tells a different story – her Instagram account has more than 26,000 followers and her YouTube channel has more than 43,000 subscribers. She admits that the numbers have grown over the years and her hijab sets her apart.

Does she see her hijab as source of her power and strength? “It is definitely part of my identity, a part of who I am. It makes me different even though I don’t want to be different. It speaks for me before I speak. It’s something I have grown to appreciate.”

She started wearing hijab when she was fourteen years old, the age she began to understand why she needed to wear it. She proudly declares, “I am a practicing Muslim. This is a personal choice for me.”

How has it been to be a Muslim and a Hijabi in Korea? “I am black, a Muslim, and a Hijabi in Korea”, she emphasized. “When I first came, it was really hard because there weren’t a lot of Muslims living here in Korea. Lots of Muslims were tourists or students. I experienced discrimination but I don’t hold on to it. I just realize that there’s a lot of ignorance and some people just don’t know. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

She has been using her social media presence to be a resource for women of color and Hijabis like her. She shares cafes, unique neighborhoods, where to get halal food, and daily outfit inspirations with her followers. She has remained steadfast in her faith, no matter how fast fashion changes and transforms. Aware of the struggles of other Muslim women here in Korea who were advised to take off their hijab for easier job placement, she gently confirms: “It’s one of those moments you are made to feel you are different. It’s wrong. I can’t turn back on my values and my morals. This is who I am. I don’t want to change for such a worldly thing…. It made me look at myself and really evaluate what it is that I want from my life. If Korea is not accepting of that side of me, I don’t need to compromise. I’m still here and I’m still working.”

Indeed, time has gone by fast.

It was only in 2017 when she experienced her first Fashion Week here in Seoul. It became more glaring that there weren’t a lot of Hijabis in the fashion week – and to a wider degree, in the fashion scene. She was elated her ensemble from Monki received a positive response.

Then, in March 2018, Q2Han posted an online contest to see who could put together the best outfit from H&M. She submitted her entry on the last day of the contest and wore it on the last day of S/S 2018 Fashion Week. She won and that made her feel more confident that she “maybe [does] have a sense of style.”

“I definitely like to be able to show that you can be fashionable and still dress modestly because I think a lot of people think they can’t do both, but you really can! I love this season of autumn and winter. I feel like I thrive the most during this time because layering is something I can do, and I just have fun with my outfit. I love giving outfit inspirations to people… but I know I am still learning myself.”

Early this year, she accomplished another feat all on her own. She obtained her resident’s visa. The visa change opens opportunities for foreigners, but she knows her hijab still poses an obstacle. Nevertheless, she has already inspired so many without compromising her faith and she has proven her competence. We will just wait and see… big things are coming her way.