Under the Taliban, mannequins – display dolls – in women’s clothing stores in the Afghan capital Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads wrapped in cloth bags or wrapped in black plastic bags.

Hooded mannequins are a symbol of the puritanical rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan. But in a way, it’s also a small show of the resistance and creativity of Kabul’s clothing merchants.

Initially, the Taliban wanted to behead the mannequins. Shortly after they seized power in August 2021, the Taliban’s Ministry of Immorality and Virtue ruled that all mannequins must be removed from display cases or beheaded, local media reported. They based the decree on a strict interpretation of Islamic law that bans statues and images in human form because they can be worshiped as idols, though it also aligns with the Taliban’s campaign to push women out of the public eye.

Some clothing vendors complied. But others reacted. They complained that they would not be able to properly display their clothes or that they would have to destroy valuable mannequins. The Taliban had to change their order, eventually allowing shopkeepers to cover mannequin heads.

Store owners then had to balance between submitting to the Taliban and trying to attract customers. The variety of solutions they came up with are displayed on Lycee Maryam Street, a shopping street with clothing stores in northern Kabul. Shop windows and showrooms are adorned with mannequins in evening wear and dresses full of color and embellishments, with various headdresses.

In one store, the heads of the mannequins were covered with sewn bags made from the same material as the traditional dresses they designed. One of them wore a purple dress, beaded with cowrie shells, and a matching purple hood. The other, dressed in a red dress elaborately embroidered with gold, looked elegant, wearing a red velvet mask and a golden crown on his head.

“I can’t cover mannequin heads with plastic or ugly stuff because that would detract from the look of my window display and store,” said Bashir, the store owner. Like the other owners, he spoke to the Associated Press on the condition that he be referred to only by his first name for fear of retribution.

Shopkeepers must keep their trade attractive — the economy collapsed after the return of the Taliban and the subsequent cessation of international funding, leaving almost the entire population poor.

Ornate dresses have always been popular in Afghanistan for weddings, which even before the Taliban were usually segregated by gender, giving women a chance to stand out in the country’s conservative society. Under the Taliban, weddings are one of the few remaining opportunities for social gatherings. But with incomes so limited, clothing has become less sophisticated.

Bashir said his sales are half what they used to be.

“Buying bridal, evening and traditional dresses is no longer a priority for people,” he said. “People think more about finding food and surviving.”

Another shop owner, Hakim, covered the heads of his mannequins with aluminum foil. As he decided, this gives zest to his products.

“I created an opportunity out of this threat and prohibition and made the mannequins even more attractive than before,” he said.

It can’t be all that complicated. In one store, all the sleeveless mannequins had black plastic bags on their heads. The owner said that his pocket could not afford more.

Another store owner, Aziz, said agents from the Ministry of Immorality and Virtue regularly patrol stores and malls to make sure mannequins are decapitated or covered. He rejected the Taliban’s justification for rule. “Everyone knows that mannequins are not idols, and no one is going to worship them. In all Muslim countries, mannequins are used to display clothing.”

A small number of male mannequins, also with their heads covered, can be seen in the windows, suggesting that the authorities are applying the ban vertically.

The Taliban initially said they would not impose the same harsh rules on society as they did during their first rule in the late 1990s, but gradually introduced more restrictions, especially on women. They banned women and girls from going to school after the sixth grade, banned them from most jobs, and required them to cover their faces in the street.

Recently, a woman shopping on the street of Maryam Lyceum looked at the hooded mannequins. “When I see them, I feel that these mannequins are also captured and trapped, and I feel a sense of fear,” said the woman, who identified herself only by her first name, Rahima.

“I think I see myself behind these windows, an Afghan woman who has been denied all her rights.”

Source: Associated Press.