Supermodel Gisele Bundchen sparked a controversy on social media recently after she attempted to go unrecognized in Paris by wearing a burqa to a plastic surgery clinic.
Bundchen’s choice of garment, which covers the body and face and is worn by some Muslim women, drew ridicule and scorn from commentators, who slammed it as “inappropriate.”
Some said that wearing the burqa during the Islamic month of Ramadan for a non-religious reason was “disrespectful.” Others pointed out that the garment is banned in France.
The New York Post, which originally published the story with pictures said to be taken on July 15, claimed that Bundchen and her sister donned the burqas to “secretly slip in and out of a Paris plastic surgery clinic.”
Imam Muhammad Abdullah Kamal al-Azhari, from New York’s Astoria Islamic Centre in, told the New York Post that her actions would be considered offensive to more conservative Muslims.
“She’s wearing a holy thing for a bad purpose.”
“In the street it is illegal to wear the burqa! It therefore violated French law,” wrote one commentator online. “A cap and a scarf would have been less conspicuous.”
“Clothes look good on her,” said a Kuwait commentator – a sarcastic reference to the skimpy catwalk outfits the Brazilian is more commonly shown wearing.
Yet Bundchen appeared to be unfazed – since the incident, a post on her page on social network Instagram shows the model practicing yoga with a friend.
