A visual pun can be a powerful mode of communication, as Australian headscarf-brand ’s latest campaign reveals.
MOGA, founded by Sri Lankan-born Melbourne designer Azahn Munas, has released images from a photo shoot capturing a woman wearing a turban of raw meat.
The project was launched in response to the “slut-shaming” and “scrutiny” MOGA's models had received on social media following the .
The model is featured wearing a headscarve of Halal-certified lamb. (Supplied/MOGA) Source: Supplied
MOGA sells religious headscarves for a majority Muslim clientele, and their models reflect a diverse group of ethnicities, body types, and ages.
“We’ve been called and we call ourselves ‘modest fashion’. So it was surprising to see comments calling a woman in skin jeans ‘slutty’, and things like that,” Munas tells SBS.
The image of meat atop a head might appear confronting to some, but Munas says that’s the point. But, when he first showed the photos to people outside MOGA, many believe it was actually a printed headscarf.
From a MOGA fashion shoot. (MOGA) Source: Supplied
“They had to look closer to tell it was meat,” he says. “We’ve only shown about 20 people [outside the business] and had no complaints so far. But I don’t what people will say once more people see and read about it.”
As a Muslim himself, Munas did consider the whether he'd offend his audience by depicting religious headwear with meat.
Munas was, therefore, careful to focus the #MoreThanMeat campaign on standing up to “misogyny, sexism, racism and discrimination against women”.
Melbourne fashion designer and MOGA founder Azahn Munas. Source: Supplied/Azahn Munas
“Therefore the message we are trying to say is more about feminism and gender as opposed to culture and religion," he says.
The shoot used real "Halal-certified" lamb.
MOGA has released other thought-provoking fashion campaigns in the past month. Most recently, the brand released a line of ahead of January 26.
Munas has also sent , in addition to penning an open letter address to her. Senator Hanson is famously anti-Islam and anti-Halal.
From MOGA's Australia Day collection celebrates multiculturalism. (Supplied/MOGA) Source: Supplied/MOGA
