Hijab Couture

THE ECONOMIST: Designers are profiting from Muslim women’s desire to look good

FEW sartorial choices are scrutinised as closely as those of Muslim women. Their clothing is regulated both in countries where Islam is a minority religion, and in those where it is professed by the majority. France bans face coverings, thus outlawing the niqab, which leaves just a slit for the eyes. In Iran, a theocracy, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchy reliant on clerical support, women must wear a hijab (head covering) and abaya (long cloak) respectively. Only last year did Turkey partially ease a ban, dating from Ataturk’s founding of the modern secular state, on female civil servants wearing headscarves.

Most Muslim women want to dress modestly in public, as Islam prescribes. But increasing numbers want to be fashionable, too. That is partly because of the relative youth and rising prosperity of the Islamic world. A growing sense of religious identity also boosts Islamic style. The Islamic revival of the 1970s, and then a shared sense of persecution in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, led many Muslim women to wear their hearts on their sleeves, says Reina Lewis, an academic at the London College of Fashion and editor of “Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith”. Many say that Islamic dress is better suited than their country’s traditional garb to modern life. “The hijab helps women be treated for their minds, not their looks,” says Aziza Al-Yousef, a Saudi professor. » | Saturday, April 26, 2014 | Cairo, Jeddah and Riyadh | From the print edition

Indonesia Aims to be Islamic Fashion Powerhouse

WSJ – BLOG: JAKARTA–A new breed of designers is seeking to blend Islamic modesty with cutting-edge style to turn Indonesia into a global center of Islamic fashion.

The idea may seem like a bad fit for some fashion mavens, who when thinking of Islamic fashion usually picture drab black or white cloths used to cloak female beauty rather than celebrate it.

But the Islamic-fashion industry has taken off in recent years as designers look for ways to incorporate the bold colors and rich textile traditions prevalent in some Islamic societies while still maintaining sufficient modesty to adhere to Muslim mores.

Indonesia, as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is already one of the main players, with a local fashion industry now estimated to be worth $6.6 billion dollars a year. But local designers and retailers – led by an industry group called the Indonesian Islamic Fashion Consortium – are hoping to expand the Islamic fashion component of the industry even more by drawing up a road map to make Indonesia the “capital” of global Islamic fashion by 2020.

Right now, Malaysia, Thailand and France are among the leading Islamic fashion hubs, industry officials say. » | Ahmad Pathoni | Monday, October 15, 2012

Nigella Lawson Wears a Burkini on Bondi Beach
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: For admirers of Nigella Lawson's Rubenesque curves, the prospect of the domestic goddess hitting the beach was one to savour.

From corseted Vivienne Westwood gowns to figure-hugging cashmere twinsets, the television chef never fails to make the most of her voluptuous figure.

So her choice of swimwear for a dip off Sydney's Bondi Beach came as something of a surprise. Rather than a revealing swimming costume, Miss Lawson was covered head to toe in a burkini, the modesty-saving outfit designed for Muslim women.

The 51-year-old cut a striking figure as she splashed in the surf with her friend, comedian Maria McErlane. While Miss McErlane wore a skimpy bikini, Miss Lawson was protected from the elements in a black two-piece and peaked cap, leaving only her hands, feet and face showing.

Rather than a sudden conversion to Islam, her choice of outfit was motivated by a desire to shield her creamy complexion from the Australian sun. "Nigella was protecting herself from sunburn, nothing more than that," said her spokesman. » | Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor | Tuesday, April 19, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Kate Middleton's wedding dress? That's one for the women, says BBC's Huw Edwards: As the presenter chosen to lead the BBC's coverage of the Royal Wedding, Huw Edwards will guide viewers through every aspect of the day - except one. » | Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor | Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Mannequins Wear a Message for Iraq’s Women
Four mannequins in Western dress in the Kadhimiya neighborhood. Text accompanying the display, put on by a mosque, had an uncompromising message: Men who look at women in such dress become voracious monsters; women who wear it burn through eternity. Photograph: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BAGHDAD — Vendors around the Kadhimiya mosque in northern Baghdad sell all manner of women’s clothing, from drape-like black abayas to racy evening wear. But on a recent afternoon, Hameed Ibrahim ushered his family toward a different kind of fashion display.

On a raised stage between two shops, four mannequins in Western dress, their blond hair peeking out under colored scarves, stood amid crepe-paper flames. To one side was a banner featuring lust-crazed male ghouls; behind the mannequins, images of eternal suffering.

And at the foot of the stage was a scripture from the mosque.

“Whoever fills his eyes with the forbidden, on judgment day God will fill them with fire.”

For Mr. Ibrahim, it was a message that his wife and daughters — and all Iraqi women — sorely needed. “I brought them here so they can see this,” he said. “Maybe everyone has forgotten about God, and they say that this is progress. Well, I call it depravity.”

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003, women’s clothing has served as a barometer not just of fashion, but of the current ascendancy of religious values in a once secular society. On this busy thoroughfare, near Baghdad’s largest holy shrine, what might be called the mannequin salvo in the Battle of the Abaya — between secularism and Shariah law — incites heated views on both sides. If revolution in the Arab world is sweeping Cairo’s streets, the smaller strokes here represent forces no less urgent.

Mr. Ibrahim’s wife, who gave her name as Um Noor, or mother of Noor, approved of the exhibit, which has been up for about a month. Like many on the street, she wore a loose-fitting black abaya that covered everything but her face, and she dressed her four daughters in kind.

“This is good because it will make women feel frightened and stop what they are doing and wearing,” she said. “There are some people who are not afraid of God. Let them come and see this.” The clothes on the mannequins were chaste by American or European standards. The sleeves and hems were long, and the necklines were high or covered by scarves. But the message was uncompromising: men who look at women in such dress become voracious monsters; women who wear it burn through eternity. >>> John Leland and Duraid Adnan | Tuesday, February 08, 2011

A Look at Women’s Wear in Indonesia
CNN: A look at high fashion in Indonesia, with the Muslim culture in mind.

Beautiful and Islamic: The New Look on the Catwalk
THE INDEPENDENT: Jerome Taylor witnesses a fusion of fashion with traditional Muslim dress

Hana Tajima, founder of Maysaa, on a shoot in north London for her new collection. Photograph: The Independent
Perched on a stool in a cavernous warehouse in north London, a model with bright blue eye make-up carefully adjusts her top as a photographer works the light around her. She is dressed in a beautiful, sleek, black satin shirt, topped off with a simple, unadorned hood.

As the photographer lifts up his camera, the model brings the hood up to cover the back half of her head. “That’s it,” he says, as the flash fires. “Beautiful.”

Welcome to the world inhabited by the “Hijabistas”, a trendy set of up and coming Muslim fashion designers who are doing their bit to forge an indigenous British Islamic identity. Until relatively recently, young Muslim women who wanted to dress according to Islamic rules of modesty (hijab) had pretty limited options. They could either adopt the type of immigrant clothing worn by their parents, or try to cobble something together from high street chains, where modesty isn’t exactly seen as a best seller, especially in the summer.

Frustrated by this lack of variety, a small number of devout young Muslims are making their own way into the fashion industry to try and provide a middle road – sleek, elegant clothing that is both beautiful and Islamic.

The seeds of this particular sartorial movement have only just begun to be sown and the number of Hijabistas in Britain can probably be counted on one hand. But their arrival heralds a shift reflected in the wider Muslim demographic of a community making their way towards the mainstream and forging their own indigenous identity. >>> Jerome Taylor | Friday, July 02, 2010

Islamic Women’s Fashion Show

Hideous Islamic ‘Fashion’ – UK Style
Watch Guardian video: Muslim Fashion: 'Anyone Can Wear These Clothes': Riazat Butt meets the designer behind Elenany, a new fashion label for Muslim women that blends modesty and street cred >>>

Islamic Fashion: ”From Drab to Dramatic”
Photo courtesy of The Star
THE STAR: There’s more to the Islamic dress than just black robes.

THE recently concluded Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta-Dubai Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF) was proof of an Islamic fashion renaissance. The runways at the tri-country fashion event were bursting with colour, with traditional garments like the burqa, jibab [jilbab] and abaya being transformed from drab to dramatic.

The festival, an attempt to turn Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Dubai into Islamic fashion capitals, attracted top designers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Among them were Malaysia’s Datuk Tom Abang Saufi and Radzuan Radziwill, Indonesian designer Ghea Panggabean, Pakistani Deepak Perwani and UAE’s Shabana Asif. Colour and Pizzaz >>> By S Indramalar

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Islamic Fashion: The Great Cover-Up
Jakarta:


Turkey:


Iran:


Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Islamic Fashion: Fashion for the Sand People?
WELTONLINE: I bring you these images of Islamic fashion courtesy of WeltOnline:


Mark Alexander

Beauty and the Beast
It is quite unbelievable that Muslims have the temerity to come here to the West, to the very people that have been kind enough to offer them a way out of their Third World misery, and then try and tell us how we should lead our lives. They even have the chutzpah to suggest that we are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, or Jahiliyya!

Now please, ladies and gentlemen, take a good look at the following images, and please ask yourself an earnest question: Who are the people living in a backward state?

I think the answer is plain to see. Frankly, I believe that Muslims can teach us very little. They can certainly teach us nothing about either fashion or style! - ©Mark

Création de Michael Kors

Création de ?

Mark Alexander