Why Modest Fashion Is Both A Movement And An Entrepreneurial Opportunity

We had long gotten past the days when we thought of fashion as something that turned back to tradition. Modernity wedded to tradition has been the mantra for much too long. That is why ‘hijab fashion’ or ‘muhajjaba models’ are the active registers in the fashion world.

The fashion world will now have to think about weaving and stitching garments and costumes to fit the needs of Muslim women as well, as the Hijab common to their belief has a worldwide reach and is not limited within religious circles [unlike how faith related costumes are for most other religions].

It encompasses consumers who dress modestly for religious and cultural reasons and those who do so for stylistic choices.

According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020/21, the modest fashion industry is valued at $277 billion and is estimated to reach $311 billion by 2024.

Turkey-based Ala Fashion Magazine is indeed a significant step in this regard; Ala — called the “Vogue of the veiled” in the Turkish news media — put that unlikely fusion of conservative Muslim values and high fashion forwards.

It won’t be a surprise if Turkey turns the ‘fashion capital’ of Hijab-wearing women and host fashion weeks parallel to those at New York City, London, Milan, and Paris; mainly because, unlike other parts of the world, such outward displays of religion is seen more as empowerment and modernisation of the pious women in Turkey, thanks to the repressive measures by yesteryear secular elites, who were insistent on banning the wearing of headscarves in public institutions.

So it has been the result of a much fought-out revolution for the right to wear costumes of one’s choice. Reformations undertook to make a society furthermore civilised and sophisticated, so now they need to brighten up their scarves with attractive colours and make their Hijab fashionable in all sought of means available, paying due respect to the religious views in this regard.

“For too long, the headscarf has been used as a political weapon, but there are millions of young women like me who wear the hijab; we are helping to break taboos. We are also overcoming the cliché that headscarves are only for old aunties,” says HulyaAslan, Ala’s editor. [The New York Times, Istanbul Journal].

Jana Kossaibati, whose blog, Hijab Style, claims to be the UK’s first style guide for Muslim women, says women are getting more experimental. “Muslim girls are very conscious of the way they dress. When you wear a headscarf, you stand out as a Muslim, so what kind of message are you also sending out if you look drab or messy?” Kossaibati started her site because there wasn’t another like it in the UK, “but since it began ten months ago, many others have appeared,” she says. [The Guardian, the hijab goes high fashion, by Homa Khaleeli].

The designers have a lot to explore about Islamic fashion because unlike the widespread concept that it just needs an abaya, burqa, and a headscarf made colourfully and glitter with stones/prints; it is all about mixing and matching costumes.

This blend of costumes in the right proportion and the right place by a maestro designer is always worth a try, especially as party wear or wedding gown, even for those sections of the people who believe they are not obliged to cover themselves up; the only thing which holds you back will be that, when short tunics turn into long gowns with sleeves, their prices also go up considerably.

A few have started recognising these facts, and it is easy for Muslim women to be fashionable in Britain these days, the bright leopard prints and H&M/Gucci shawls as hijab, the beehive styled hijabs worn with a variety of garments ranging from silk to denim materials will, of course, make you laugh at people who are still sleeping over stereotypes like Hijab is restrictive/oppressive/forced. But it is a fact that mainstream brands and fashion shows are reluctant to target Muslim women despite identifying that Muslim fashion is worth millions globally.

One could choose not to wear a headscarf and similar Islamic identities because it is un-styled or boring. Still, it has every right to get into the fashion weeks in Paris and elsewhere. Otherwise, alternative fashion worlds would raise to weave and stitch what the people wants and feels comfortable with – considering all regional, racial, faith-related diversities in garments and costumes. Anyway, the beauty of the hijab lies in a woman’s choice to wear it, and there is no better way than to make it fashionable to make it her choice.