Conservative clothing design becoming a global trend say 'modest' fashion-show organizers.
ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s first international ‘modest fashion’ show opened on Friday in Istanbul, bringing together pioneers of the conservative clothing industry. Organized by Modanisa.com, a Turkey-based Muslim fashion e-commerce site, Istanbul Modest Fashion Week gathered representatives of over 100 local and international brands as well as hundreds of participants at Istanbul’s historical Haydarpasa Railway Station. The two-day event aims to “showcase brand-new collections of globally known designers,” according to organizers. One of the participants at the event was a London-based blogger Sebina Hussain who said modest fashion was evolving around the world. “I am a Pakistani heritage, I am from London, I am in Turkey and I am wearing a Malaysian dress. That is like bringing together [the] umma with fashion,” she said using Arabic world for community. “It is about fashion, it is about looking good but it is also about religion as well. It is about Muslim women united together and saying ‘Hey, this is us’,” she said. Also speaking to Anadolu Agency was Kerim Ture, chairman of Modanisa, who said that the ‘modest fashion’ industry was worth around $200 billion globally. “Although it is difficult to separate the modest fashion sector from the clothing industry, the modest fashion sector consists of $9 billion in Turkey out of a total of $27 billion,” Ture said. “Modest fashion is a big market,” he added. “According to the Global Islamic Economy Report, Turkey is the biggest market in the world.” Turkey already has a number of local modest fashion brands including Aker, Armine. For many Muslim women, dressing modestly is important because of their religious beliefs. Several international clothing brands, including luxury fashion brands Dolce & Gabbana, Swedish giant H&M and DKNY, have already created ‘modest’ collections to reach the Muslim market. Some designers at Friday’s event are Annah Hariri from the United Arab Emirates, Gulshaan from France and Anniesa Hasibuan from Indonesia. Another participant at the event was Mariah Idrissi, the first Muslim model to sport a hijab for the Swedish brand H&M. She believes that modest fashion is growing. “I do not see it is something that is going to stay just in the Muslim world, it is going to expand. A lot of international brands will also cooperate with a lot of modest trends,” Idrissi said. “I do think fashion recycles itself all the time. We are going to go through a phase where modest is going to be a fashion statement for everyone,” the 23-year-old added.
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