Arwa Fashion

Of all the modest-fashion stories I keep coming back to, Arwa Fashion might be my favorite, because its location does so much of the talking.

Arwa Fashion is inside Mall of America. The biggest mall in North America. Right there in the directory between national retailers. A Somali-Muslim-owned boutique specializing in abayas, hijabs, and traditional Somali dirac (the flowing Somali dress you'll see at weddings and Eid) selling to a shopper base that includes Muslim women, non-Muslim women curious about modest fashion, and tourists from every country you can name. The physical presence of this store at MOA matters, because it signals — without saying a word — that Muslim fashion has a home in mainstream American retail.

Arwa has two locations in the Twin Cities. The Mall of America store is at 60 E Broadway in Bloomington. The Minneapolis store is at 129 W Lake Street, right in the heart of Somali-owned business territory. Both are merchandised with the same sensibility: a huge selection of abayas in every color and embellishment level, hijabs in satin, chiffon, modal, and jersey, traditional Somali pieces, and everyday modest separates. The Instagram account (@arwafashionusa) is where you can see the new arrivals roll in week by week.

Customers post consistently about the service and the fit. If you're new to abayas, the staff will walk you through the options — closed-front versus open, casual versus occasion — without rushing you. If you already know what you want, they get it for you fast. Prices land in the boutique-mall range; occasion abayas can go higher, and they should, because the fabrics are generally real (not the cheap polyester that falls apart after two Eids).

Somali fashion is a specific thing, and Arwa honors it. The dirac — that floaty, semi-sheer Somali dress worn over an underskirt — is a whole art form, and Arwa carries beautiful versions for both everyday and wedding-level occasions. If you're invited to a Somali wedding in the Twin Cities, this is where your outfit gets sorted.

A few practical notes. If you're at MOA for a whole shopping day, plan Arwa earlier in the trip — you'll want to actually try pieces on without the end-of-day fatigue. Parking at MOA is free but the mall is huge, so note which entrance is closest to 60 E Broadway. The Lake Street location is easier for a quick in-and-out visit, and you can pair it with a meal at one of the nearby Cedar-Riverside or Lake Street Somali restaurants.

What matters most about Arwa Fashion is the representation. When a Somali-Muslim-owned fashion boutique earns and holds a lease inside Mall of America, it tells every Muslim girl who walks past — visiting with her family from Chicago, Toronto, Dubai — that there is space for her faith and her style in the American retail landscape. That matters, deeply.

The Amara take: Make the detour to Bloomington. Support a Somali-owned boutique that's holding mall-level real estate. Buy something beautiful.