Fans enraptured by Malala Yousafzai’s look at 2023 Oscars: ‘Class in the hijab’

The education activist wore Ralph Lauren on the champagne carpet

Malala Yousafzai’s sparkly silver outfit at the 2023 Oscars has dazzled fans, who praised her for championing “modest fashion”.

The Pakistani activist attended the Academy Awards for the first time on Sunday (12 March) night with her husband, Asser Malik.

Yousafzai, 25, wore a hooded silver sequinned gown by Ralph Lauren with long sleeves and a floor-length skirt. The Nobel Prize laureate accessorised with a silver diamond ring and a gold ring with an emerald flower from Santi Jewels.

Yousafzai, who wears a head scarf for religious reasons, was praised by social media users for donning a glamorous and modest look on the champagne-coloured carpet.

“What an inspiration to women around the world. Class in the hijab,” one person commented.

Another said that her look embodied “old Hollywood”, adding: “Stunning… modest. Perfection.”

One commenter wrote: “She looks great and keeping it halal!”

Yousafzai was also lauded for her “perfect” response to host Jimmy Kimmel’s gag about an alleged interaction between Harry Styles and Chris Pine.

Kimmel asked the education activist: “As the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history, I was wondering, do you think Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?”

Yousafzai paused for a moment before answering: “I only talk about peace.”

Malala Yousafzai attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on 12 March 2023 (Getty Images)

It comes after a video of Styles “appearing to spit” on Pine during the Venice screening of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling last year went viral. Representatives for Pine and a source close to Styles denied the alleged incident and claimed the moment “simply did not exist”.

Yousafzai was the executive producer of Stranger at the Gate, which was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the Oscars.

The film follows the story of a former US Marine planning a terrorist attack on a mosque in Muncie, Indiana, but changes his mind after finding himself welcomed by the community.

Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate when she received the award at the age of 17 after she was the target of an assassination attempt by the Taliban.

She was shot in the head but survived long enough to be transferred from Pakistan to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to be operated on. Following her recovery, she became a well-known activist for women and girls’ rights to education.