Summary: New international modest fashion week in Istanbul showcase the best of conservative wears with spring colors
Designers from all around the globe—ranging from Indonesia to Azerbaijan—recently converged on Istanbul, Turkey for the International Modest Fashion Week.
The event was the first of its kind in Turkey, a country that has historically been ruled by a secular elite. Turkey is also the biggest consumer of Islam-friendly dress in the world, with an annual market of about $34 billion. In addition, nearly 45 percent of Turkish women wear a headscarf.
Jenny White of the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies said the fashion week shows that the landscape is changing for what it means to be a Muslim woman in Turkey.
“Turkey was a nation of primarily pious, conservative Muslims ruled by a secular elite minority,” White said. “Now pious Muslims have gained power and wealth and are confidently pushing the boundaries of what it means to be Muslim. For the first time in (the Turkish republic’s) history, Islamic dress is associated with upward mobility.”
Read the full story online at The Australian.