Skip to main content

Muslim conservatives unveil anger at Turkey's Modest Fashion Week

Modest Fashion Week was greeted with a strong backlash from the religious conservative camp in Turkey.
RTX2E622.jpg

Istanbul played host to Modest Fashion Week May 13-14 at the Haydarpasa railway station. The event was the first of its kind in Turkey and was organized by Modanisa.com, an online retailer of Muslim fashion, in collaboration with the Islamic Fashion and Design Council. The program included fashion shows, panels and workshops on a variety of topics including marketing, social media, branding and gastronomy. Among the guests were fashion blogger Dina Tokio; Haneefah Adam, creator of Hijarbie; Mariah Idrissi, the first hijab-wearing model for global modest brands; Kuwaiti influencer Fatema Al Awadhi; CEO of Haute Hijab Melanie Elturk; and many others. The organizers anticipated guests from 25 countries.

Various international media covered the event from the perspective of a burgeoning industry within the framework of Islamic consumerism and through the prism of cultural wars between secularists and religious conservatives in Turkey. While these approaches have some validity — for example, the latest Global Islamic Economy report suggests that worldwide spending on Muslim clothing is projected to grow to $327 billion by 2020, up from $230 billion in 2014 — few noted the strong and angry backlash among hardcore religious believers in Turkey's conservative camp.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.