What are Muslim-friendly slippers? The ones that let you pair them with socks, apparently.
That’s according to local footwear brand Fipper when responding to backlash and confusion yesterday, after its collaboration with entrepreneur Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor raised eyebrows as well as questions on whether it was trying too hard to cash in on the religion – days ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, no less.
“Our Fipper x TheNoor slip-ons are suitable for Muslim women who wear socks, since our previous products did not fully suit the image of a Muslim woman,” the company, owned by Malaysian Jack Lim, said on Instagram yesterday. “The Fipper team would like to apologize for the confusion.”
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On why a pair of bulky magenta slip-ons would suit a Muslim woman more than any other slipper-wearing individual is anybody’s guess.
The “Fipper x The Noor” footwear was launched at Neelofa’s Monday media event promoting her Muslim app The Noor. A representative from Fipper had introduced the new product as a “Muslim-friendly,” “lightweight,” and “soft protection” footwear that costs RM79.90 (US$20) a pair, which is more expensive than Fipper’s regular rubber slippers and sandals that usually retail at around RM49.90 (US$12).
Fipper’s latest footwear is also bulkier than normal and is categorized under “unisex” on its website, which caused even more confusion since the company said it was targeting Muslim women.
“Muslim-friendly slippers omg. Does this mean I’ve been wearing [heathen]-friendly ones?” @Lightsong96 wrote yesterday.
@Zhantafa chimed in: “Finally, people come out with [Muslim]-friendly slipper, I have struggles with my non-muslim slipper.”
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