AirAsia appoints 28-year-old celebrity businesswoman to board

AirAsia, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest budget carriers, has appointed the well-known 28-year-old entrepreneur Neelofa Noor as non-executive independent director, hoping she can bring fresh insights about the market for digital-savvy young people and women.

Neelofa is a household name in Malaysia, famous for her brand of hijab collections, which are available in over 35 countries, and which are worn by AirAsia’s female pilots. She becomes AirAsia’s youngest board member.

She rose to prominence after winning a teen beauty contest, and was a film and television actress before starting her Muslim headwear business in 2014, supported by her parents.

“Her experience as an entrepreneur, a brand creator and an industry disruptor will be invaluable to AirAsia,” said Tony Fernandes, chief executive of the low-cost carrier, in a statement Friday.

He added that Neelofa’s business success could teach the company about the youth market and the world of digital communications.

“Neelofa is super smart, young and independent,” he said. “Her reputation as Malaysia’s leading businesswomen … and her track record in championing women in business is an inspiration to us.”

The hijabista — a woman who dresses stylishly while conforming to Islamic modesty by wearing a hijab — has a large social media following, with millions of followers on Twitter and Facebook.

“Such an inspiration,” said one comment on Facebook about the appointment.

In Southeast Asia — AirAsia’s key market — ambitious Muslim women who combine a taste for lifestyle brands and digital technology with religious observance have been playing an increasingly important role in the marketplace, according to a recent study.

“Young Muslim women in Southeast Asia are coming of age at a time of societal flux and are demonstrating a new set of aspirations and behaviors which represent opportunities and challenges to brands,” said the study, titled “The New Muslimah: Southeast Asia Focus,” by J. Walter Thompson Company.