If you follow me on Instagram, you know how much I love my head wraps! Since moving to Detroit, I have collected an assortment of wraps. Detroit is very popular for the head wrap fashion style because many men and women wear headwraps for cultural and spiritual reasons.
I have found vendors at the Eastern Market and other cultural festivals, such as the African World Festival, who sell beautiful African fabric, tichels, and hijabs. So when I found out about the 4th Annual Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo, I knew I had to go!
The head wrap expo is held every year. According to their website, “it is an amazing day of unity, fashion, and sister/brotherhood!”
The Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo is not just about the art of head wrapping. It is so much more. The event is a great way to educate the community on differences in culture and faith. It also encourages the community to respect one another’s beliefs and cultural differences. And lastly, The Headwrap Expo teaches us how to love each other and find unity with one another.
Zarinah El-Amin Naeem is the founder of the Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo. I had the pleasure of meeting Zarinah at the Detroit African World Festival in August. I love Zarinah’s spirit and great passion for the community. She strives hard to bring together people of different cultures and faiths.
I loved everything about the Headwrap Expo! I learned so many new styles, and I also learned more about how headwrapping is used in different cultures. It was a very enlightening experience.
Here are my favorite highlights of the 4th Annual Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo.
Wrapunzel
My favorite headwrap company Wrapunzel was a vendor at the expo. I first learned about Wrapunzel in April 2016 while researching on YouTube how-to head wrapping videos. Ordering a tichel had been on my wish list for months. So when I found out they were going to be at the expo, I was beyond thrilled!
I met Rachel, one of Wrapunzel’s team members, and she helped me pick out a tichel, the Wendy Beret Volumizer, and a Pashmina.
Fashion Shows
Fashion shows were scheduled every hour at the Headwrap Expo. Arabian fashion styles, African fashion styles, and headwrap fashion were just a few of the types of shows featured. I enjoyed seeing the different styles from different cultures, especially the African headwraps.
Interfaith Panel Discussion
I was looking forward to hearing the discussions of the interfaith panel because I wanted to learn more about spiritual head covering. The panel featured discussions about spiritual head coverings in the faiths of Sikhism, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, and Christianity. A Nigerian princess also spoke at the interfaith panel.
Many men and women wear head coverings for faith-based reasons. For instance, I am a Christian and I wear a head covering for religious reasons pertaining to my Christian faith.
For me, hearing how devout each speaker was to their faith and their commitment to wear a head covering was very encouraging. Even though my faith is different from most of the other speakers, it was still inspiring to know there are other people who practice wearing a head covering to honor their faith.
Other Favorites
Another favorite was the artisan marketplace. A variety of vendors showcased unique products such as fabric for headwraps, scarves, jewelry, clothing and much more.
At the closing ceremony, Zarinah asked for the audience to make a community love pledge to show more love to one another in our communities. It is a strong message that definitely needs to be spread throughout the Detroit area, the United States, and the world.
The expo concluded with a beautiful dance. Audience members were also invited to participate in the dance. Zhen, my three-year-old, loved the dance the most. She was dancing around the women and trying really hard to move to the center of the dance floor to dance with the others.
I loved everything about The Headwrap Expo! I loved attending the head wrap workshops, seeing the fashion shows, and shopping at the artisan marketplace. The Interfaith Panel really was also a great experience for me. I learned more about spiritual head covering. It also taught me how to love and respect others with differing beliefs.
If you are in the Detroit area next year, I highly recommend you attend the Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo! I know I am looking forward to next year’s event!
ALSO, CHECK OUT ON THE BLOG:
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All photographs are courtesy of Jennifer Hamra for Good Life Detroit.
[…] my blog post about the 2016 “Highlights from the Beautifully Wrapped Headwrap Expo”. I’m really looking forward to attending the 2017 headwrap expo, which will be on October 29, […]
I LOVE a good festival! Those headwraps are beautiful…now if I could only tie my own!
A lot of inspiration! It looks like you had a great time and you look gorgeous in your headwrap!
Thank you, Britney!
This looks like such a great event! I love to see things like this in my hometown. I live in Los Angeles now but I’m always happy to see beautiful things happening in Detroit.
This is a great fashion show idea. Love your headwrap too!
I love this concept for a fashion show. These ladies look amazing.
LiveLifeWell,
Allison
A head wrap expo? Who knew there was such a thing? It looks like it was awesome!!!!
WOW! I didn’t know that a headwrap expo even existed!!! Wow these all look cool.
I love it, what a fabulous idea for a fashion event. I wish they would travel the country with it, it would be a big hit. The styles are gorgeous!
Traveling the country is a great idea! I know there are so many women who would love to learn more about headwrapping!
Beautiful! I just saw something like this at NYFW with hijabs. It’s great for all the diffrent cultures out there.
I wish I could have seen the hijab fashion show. I bet it was beautiful!
This looks so beautiful!! I love the faith intertwined with the fashion. There are so many ways to wear head wraps! I’m always impressed when I see women doing different styles! Go Detroit! 🙂
Hi, Nadeen! I love all the headwrap styles. The very large styles impress me. It amazes me the different ways a person can style a headwrap. Ever since I moved to Detroit, my headwrap styles have improved so much!
What an amazing event! I swear no one can do what sisters do, each look was gorgeous, unique and stood out in its own way. I can’t think of many places where I would have been able to see something like this. Glad to see Detroit still hold its place in cultural prominence.
I love a good head wrap! These all look amazing!
The headwraps are beautiful and the expo looked like so much fun. I have family id Detroit, so I’ll definitely let them know all the about the expo.