Former fashion mogul Pierre Bergé made a comment against designers, such as Dolce Gabbana, Marks and Spencer or Uniqlo, who create Islamic fashion aiming Muslim women. Berge accused them of taking part in the “enslavement of women.”
[pullquote]Summary: Pierre Bergé, Co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent, lashed out against designers creating clothes according to Islamic fashion.[/pullquote]“I am scandalised,” said the 85-year-old Pierre Berge – a French Businessman and cofounder of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, to the French radio station Europe 1 on last Wednesday.
Mr. Bergé comment has circulated throughout the Internet and contains harsh comments against fashion houses friendly to Islamic fashion industry.
“Creators should have nothing to do with Islamic fashion. Designers are there to make women beautiful, t give them their freedom, not to collaborate with this dictatorship which imposes this abominable thing by which we hide women and make them live a hidden life.”
Mr. Bergé’s comment is going to have responses from people who believe in diversifying fashion industry. The earliest one has been from Shelina Janmohamed, British author of Love in Headscarf. In an OpEd at the Telegraph, she wrote: “The claim that Muslim women can’t make independent, carefully considered choices of their own (including determining their own fashion sense), is terribly insulting and reduces us to children. Poor Muslim women. And women of colour – who face similar condescension and must be ‘saved’ from themselves. For a woman’s rights minister’ to claim that any women can’t think for herself and must be helped to know what’s good for her, is infantilzation or steroids, and is perfect example of the very attitude that feminist have been attempting to dismantle for centuries.”
At Goltune, we expect more people who want to control and reduce tension between the West and Islam, speak up against Mr. Bergé comment.