Fashion

Ahmadinejad Chic

Iranian rappers embrace the chafiyeh.

For 30 years, adherents of Iran’s Islamic revolution, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have sported the chafiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf that is a symbol of Iran’s Islamic revolution. But now, The Guardian reports, the scarf is a craze among emerging rappers on Iran’s underground scene, who wear it in concerts and in video clips. Last year, Iran’s culture and Islamic guidance ministry began campaigning against rap, which it sees as vulgar and obscene. And if the mere wearing of the chafiyeh in a hip-hop setting wasn’t ironic enough, young MCs are pairing the scarf with that staple of hipster fashion: the band t-shirt.