Metro Detroit nurse launched Avicenna Scrubs to create modest health care clothing line for women
Avicenna Scrubs officially launched in February 2022.
Hawraa Sabra is a registered nurse who works in Detroit. When she entered nursing, she realized there weren’t many modest clothing options for Muslim women in her field.
Sabra created Avicenna Scrubs for women like her who want to dress modestly while working in health care.
“We offer scrubs that have long sleeves, extended hands and full coverage for people like myself — a Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab and are required to dress a certain way,” explains Sabra.
She says her brand is for all women who choose to dress modestly.
Read: Detroit Today: Michigan’s nurses are facing staffing shortages
The scrubs offer options with longer shirts, long sleeves or higher necks for added coverage. Sabra shared she would previously have to layer her clothes, or wear extended shirts to get the coverage she needed.
“I decided why not make a scrubs brand that kind of has all these things built in so that I don’t have to do this,” she says.
Avicenna Scrubs officially launched in February 2022. Sabra gathered feedback from her customers on the initial product line and personally wore her scrubs to see what could be improved for the second wave released this past March.
View this post on Instagram
Sabra believes modest wear should be readily available in health care.
“It kind of hurts to feel like you have to compromise between modesty or comfort or functionality or style, and so I wanted the scrubs to be an option,” she says.
Avicenna Scrubs is named after Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina, an Islamic scholar who was known as the father of modern medicine.
“We were able to like pay homage to Islam’s influence on modern day medicine — as well as acknowledging our presence today,” says Sabra.
It was important for Sabra to create the change she wanted to see, and dispel stereotypes as a Muslim Arab American woman entrepreneur. She hopes to inspire others like her who want to step into the business world.
“Neither my religion or (sic) my background has held me back from being able to accomplish all these things,” Sabra says.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
