A visual pun can be a powerful mode of communication, as Australian headscarf-brand MOGA’s latest #MoreThanMeat 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 brand's previous campaigns.
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 green and gold headscarves ahead of January 26.
Munas has also sent headscarves to One Nation party leader Senator Pauline Hanson, 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
