Skirts, dresses and scarves usually only get more outlandish and risque following fashion week in Paris and New York, but this year fashion moguls are making modesty haute with the first ever Modest Fashion Week in Istanbul.
Helmed by Turkish fashion mogul and CEO of Haute Hijab Melanie Elturk, the fashion week taps into a growing global demand for modest but fashionable Islamic clothing that includes hijabs, chadors, jilbabs, khimars (there’s a significant difference that most Americans don’t realize, as the New York Times recently reported) and other iterations of modest dress popular in the Middle East and elsewhere.
As NPR reported, the market for high-fashion versions of Islamic clothing reached $230 billion globally last year, a need Elturk is happy to help fill. As Modest Fashion Week kicks off, Elturk is hoping to see a lot of modest formal wear, taking the guesswork out of dressing up traditional garments.
“Since we have to be covered up, we have to wear things that age us,” Elturk told NPR. “Intricate formal wear is definitely going to be a hit on the runway.”
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