Melanie Elturk is CEO and founder of Haute Hijab, the leading hijab brand in the United States. She founded the company with her husband in 2010, and they both now work at the company full-time. Previously, Elturk had a law career where she specialized in civil rights. She chose to enter the field of fashion because she felt that there was no hijab brand out there geared specifically toward American Muslim women. She sees her biggest contribution through Haute Hijab as providing a product that allows women to feel beautiful—not having to compromise on style while adhering to their faith. In 2017, every Gap store in the world featured a hijabi model wearing one of Haute Hijab’s products. But Elturk and Haute Hijab are based in New York City for good. “There is a Somali saying that says you travel and travel until the soil suits you,” she says. “I left Detroit, moved to Chicago, went to Dubai—I hated Dubai—and then came here. And now I don’t even feel the need to travel; I don’t want to travel. I had this travel bug, especially in Dubai. Every month or two we would leave. But now that we are here, I don’t want to go. Like, where are we even going to go?!”
