4SundayMagazineSUNDAY TRIBUNEAPRIL 17 2016 Fashion

THE fashion industry isalways looking forsomething new. Whether it’sa new designer, trend or the

hottest brand, there’s a constantsearch for something that will getpeople to sit up and take note.Then there are times whenfashion decides to focus on eithera country, region or culture. Nowthat China’s luxury fashionmarket has all but failed, thanksto the market crash last year,fashion’s next big thing is Islam.Islam fashion that is.

Islamic clothing, especially thehijab, is as stylish as it is political.The headscarf, adorned by manywomen who are followers of theIslamic faith, has had a bad rap,with many in the west seeing it asa symbol of oppression, so muchso that France has banned it inthe country. But is it really?

In 2014, a group of young,stylish Muslim women werefeatured in a video, which wentviral. Called Mipsterz – aportmanteau of Muslim andHipster – they represented theyoung Muslim youth and theywere essentially taking back thenegative connotations that comeswith wearing the hijab.

And less than two years later, arush of fashion brands havedecided to focus on what, for them,is the next big thing: Islamic wear.

You would assume that it’s agenuine interest, but, like Chinashowed, it’s all about the bottom-line. In 2013, Muslims globallyspent $266 billion on clothing andfootwear. That’s more than thetotal fashion spending of Japanand Italy combined, according to arecent report from ThomsonReuters. Today, according to the2015-2016 State of the GlobalIslamic Economy Report, Muslimconsumers spend an estimated$230bn on clothing, a number thatis projected to grow to $327bn by2019 – larger than the currentcombined clothing markets of theUK ($107bn), Germany ($99bn) andIndia ($96bn).

The modesty fashion industryis heavily reliant on the religion ofIslam. It’s really not just fashion.

According to the religion, womenare required to be modest at alltimes. It is a rule in majorityMuslim countries, where,according to Al Jazeera, 88percent of the population definereligion as important. But theyouth felt it necessary for them tobe able to express their style,while still keeping their modesty.And as Forbes wrote in a 2013article entitled “The next biguntapped fashion market: Muslimwomen”, it started a chainreaction where fashion startedsetting its sights on Muslimwomen.

Since 2014, there have been anumber of high profile fashionshows hosted in the UAE. Chanelpresented its Cruise collection inDubai in 2014, while in November,Stella McCartney showed herSpring 2016 ready-to-wearcollection, a month after releasingit in Paris.

But the real focus on courtingMuslim women as customersbegan with several fashion housesand fast fashion brands creatingcollections that specifically caterto Muslim women. In recent years,we have seen DKNY, TommyHilfiger, Monique Lhuillier andOscar de la Renta, produce capsulecollections to be sold in the MiddleEast during the holy month ofRamadaan. Retailers like Mango,Zara and H&M have also curatedcollections that would appeal tothe market.

But since then it’s gone beyondjust Ramadaan. Italian brand,Dolce & Gabbana recentlylaunched a hijab and abayacollection for the spring 2016, asdid Japanese brand, Uniqlo, whichlaunched a hijab range that wasfirst sold in Asia.

Roshan Isaacs, head of theSouth African chapter of theglobal Islamic Fashion and DesignCouncil, said that initiallymainstream markets did notworry about the Muslim market,but they are now seeing theirbuying power. “It was difficult topinpoint due to their shoppingactivity not confined to one shopor item but to many shops or

items in order to coverappropriately. Following extensiveresearch made available about themodest wear market, designersrealised that the Muslim market isvery lucrative,” she said.

So why the sudden fascination?Isaacs said that modest fashion,which is how she refers to Islamicwear without putting it in a box, isnot something that started lastyear. “It’s not a trend. It has andalways will exist, not only amongMuslims but a number of faithsand cultures that dressconservatively. Everyone has theirown personal identity and beliefs,but many are looking to be globalcitizens, where labels don’t matter.Modest wear consumers want tolook stylish and so they formulatetheir outfit as a way ofcommunicating their personal andunique style that befits theirreligious code, and designers havecaught on to this,” she said.

Locally there are also a numberof designers who have puttogether or featured modest-wearinspired looks in their collections.“In South Africa we have non-Muslim designers who havefeatured one or two modest-attirepieces at the latest South AfricanFashion Week,” said Isaacs. “TheSomerset Janes Winter collection,Mille Collines and GrapeVineFashion are some. And amongIslamic designers, Mod-ish byNazeefa and Wardah Safi, Serunaby Unaizah Toffar, M-Couture byMohamed Rawoot and HumanImage by Ayesha Allie are alldesigners who realise that themodest-wear market has potentialand their collections range fromready-to-wear to couture.”

Isaacs added that over62 percent of the global Muslimpopulation was under 30 years old.“Their modest lifestyle is not apassing trend, it’s something theyare committed to for life.

“Once you win them over, theyare likely to remain with you forlife.

“Their loyalty and spendingpower makes them the mostattractive consumer population inthe world,” she said.

LIAM JOYCE

SM spoke to Roshan Isaacs,head of the South Africanchapter of the global IslamicFashion and Design Council.

Do you think that Muslim

women or men might feel as

if their culture is being

commodified or

misappropriated?

This question requires moreof a conversation. There willbe those who disagree and feelthat mainstream iscommercialising Islamic wearas they realise how big thismarket is, and still growing,especially when there is a hugemarket in the East.

And then there are thosewho find it welcoming as weshop at retail and designerstores and wish for moremodest attire to be madeaccessible.

The dos and don’ts?

How people wear a garmentis totally up to them. Muslimswould wear it in accordancewith their beliefs, while non-Muslims would wear it as itappeals to their style or theway they wish to communicatethemselves that day. In SouthAfrica we have manysimilarities in dress.

The Kaftan and Abaya issimilar in that it does notaccentuate the shape of thewoman. The Kaftan is wornacross cultures like Islamic,Indian, Jewish and Africancultures and religions. Thenthere’s the turban and scarfstyled in many different waysfrom faith to faith.

From a style aspect:layering creates beautifuldrapes and shapes the garmentitself, playing with colours tocompliment or contrast and ofcourse the hijab itself can bestyled in a number of ways fora chic covered look.

What are your overall

thoughts on this fascination

and the incorporation of

Islamic wear in the west?

It’s about time. The west hasalways seen Islamic dress asrestrictive or oppressive. We’vebeen highly influenced by theceleb, western and Europeanway of dressing. Growth in themodest-wear sector is drivenby the youth. We are acolourful nation, we need toembrace culture, and this maybe the first step towardtolerance. In South Africa wehave been heavily influencedby European dress, when infact we are rich in culture.

Roshan Isaacs

Is Muslimfashioncatchingon?

The style world is fascinated with Islamic fashion, reports Liam Joyce

Mipsterz – a portmanteau of hipsters and Muslims – is the term coined for young, stylish Muslim women.

Dolce and Gabbana launched itsfirst abaya and hijab line inJanuary.

At SA Fashion Week, somedesigners featured influences ofIslamic fashion, including MilleCollines, top, and Somerset Jane,above.

Modesty’s stayingand buying power