禁令之後 布基尼泳裝更熱銷

HONG KONG — The woman credited with creating the so-called burkini said the controversy over efforts to ban the full-body bathing suit worn by some Muslim women has helped bolster demand for her invention, which she said was not meant to be a political statement.

香港——被認爲發明了所謂“布基尼”的女子說，那些試圖禁止“布基尼”的爭論，已幫助增加了對其發明的需求，這種泳衣覆蓋全身，由一些穆斯林婦女所穿，她說，布基尼本來並不是一個政治聲明。

Aheda Zanetti, the Lebanese-Australian inventor of the swimsuit, said officials in more than a dozen French beach towns seeking to prevent women from covering up have misconstrued the purpose of the bathing suit.

泳裝發明者、黎巴嫩裔澳大利亞人阿海達•薩內蒂(Aheda Zanetti)表示，法國十幾個海灘小鎮的官員試圖阻止婦女遮蓋全身的做法，誤解了這種泳衣的目的。

“They’ve misunderstood the burkini swimsuit,” Ms. Zanetti, 49, said in a telephone interview from Sydney. “Because the burkini swimsuit is freedom and happiness and lifestyle changes — you can’t take that away from a Muslim, or any other woman, that chooses to wear it.”

“他們誤解了布基尼泳衣，”49歲的薩內蒂在悉尼接受電話採訪時說。“因爲布基尼泳衣代表自由、幸福和生活方式的變化，你不能從選擇穿它的穆斯林或任何其他女性那裏把它奪走。”

Ms. Zanetti said she designed the garment in 2004 for women who wanted to show less skin while bathing or exercising.

薩內蒂說，2004年，自己爲那些想在游泳或鍛鍊時暴露少一些的婦女設計了這種服裝。

“I wanted to introduce a full range of clothing to suit a Muslim woman — or any woman — that wanted a bit of modesty and wanted to participate in any sporting activities,” said Ms. Zanetti, who is a Muslim and wears her own swimwear products.

“我希望推出滿足穆斯林女性、或任何女性需求的全套服裝，這些服裝是爲那些在參加體育活動時想保留一點端莊的人設計的，”薩內蒂說，她是一名穆斯林，也穿自己設計的泳裝產品。

“It was also my aim for them not to be judged for who they are, or where they’re from, and who people think they’re representing.”

“我的目的也是讓她們不因自己的身份、來自哪個國家，以及人們認爲她們代表什麼而被評頭論足。”

A fashion designer and former hairdresser, Ms. Zanetti coined the name “burkini,” a blend of the words burqa and bikini, but said that the swimsuit was not intended to exclude non-Muslims and was not meant to be a political statement.

現爲時裝設計師、曾經當過美髮師的薩內蒂創造了“布基尼”這個名字，它是布卡(burqa)和比基尼(bikini)的組合，但她說，這種泳衣並不把非穆斯林排除在外，也沒有想成爲一個政治聲明。

The French “burkini” bans, and the news reports about the ensuing debate, have been good for business, she said, with online sales rising about 200 percent in recent days. Most demand is coming from Australia, Europe and Canada, she said, and some new customers include skin-cancer patients who are looking for ways to shield their skin from the sun.

她說，法國的“布基尼”禁令，以及對隨之而來的辯論的新聞報道，對她的生意有好處，最近幾天網上的銷售量上升了約200％。她說，大部分需求來自澳大利亞、歐洲和加拿大，新客戶中有些是皮膚癌患者，他們在尋找不讓皮膚暴露在太陽光下的方法。

Ms. Zanetti said that her company, Ahiida, has sold 700,000 swimsuits since 2008. The company sells its products in stores in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Southeast Asia.

薩內蒂說，自2008年以來，她的公司Ahiida已經售出了70萬件泳衣。公司在澳大利亞、歐洲、中東、美國及東南亞地區的商店銷售產品。

Ms. Zanetti, who moved to Australia from Lebanon as a 2-year-old, said that she did not feel comfortable wearing traditional swimsuits as a young girl. She and her friends would sometimes swim in full clothing, she said, but they did not linger in the water because they were embarrassed.

薩內蒂兩歲時從黎巴嫩移民澳大利亞，她說小時候不喜歡穿傳統的泳衣。她說，她和她的朋友們有時會穿着平時的衣服游泳，但她們在水裏待的時間不長，因爲會害羞。

Years later, she said, her teenage niece wanted to play netball, a game similar to basketball that is played mostly by women, but was prohibited by her local Sydney league from playing while wearing a hijab. Ms. Zanetti said her sister wrote a letter of complaint to league officials, who reversed their decision.

她說，好多年後，她的一個十幾歲的侄女想打投球，那是一種主要由女性參與的運動，與籃球類似，但因爲她戴着哈吉布打球，悉尼當地的球賽聯盟曾禁止她參賽。薩內蒂說，她姐姐給賽聯官員寫信抗議，賽聯推翻了其決定。

Even so, Ms. Zanetti said that her niece’s hijab was “completely unsuitable” for athletics.

薩內蒂說，儘管如此，她侄女戴的哈吉布對運動員來說“完全不合適”。

Ms. Zanetti said she designed the “burkini,” which covers everything except the face, hands and feet, so that women like her niece could cover and still participate comfortably in sport. She also created the hijood — headwear attached to the “burkini,” to look like the hood of a sweatshirt.

薩內蒂說，她設計的“布基尼”讓像她侄女那樣的女性可以遮蓋全身，同時仍能舒服地參加運動，布基尼遮蓋了臉、手和腳以外的身體所有部分。她還發明瞭一個叫“哈吉帽”(hijood)的東西，這種帽子可以像運動衫的兜帽那樣，附加在“布基尼”上。

Ms. Zanetti said that her four children, who once “rolled their eyes” over her swimwear innovations, have recently become more interested as they follow the news from France.

薩內蒂的四個孩子曾經對她的泳裝創新“不以爲然”，她說，最近因爲注意到來自法國的新聞，他們對這種泳裝有了更大的興趣。

She said that her children have noticed “that I have a strong voice on behalf of women, for freedom of choice, ” she said. “I can feel how proud they are, more than they’ve ever been.”

她說她的孩子們已注意到，“我能代表女性、代表選擇自由強力發聲，”她說。“我能感覺到他們是多麼地自豪，比他們以往任何時候都自豪。”