MODEST FASHION, ISLAMIC FASHION

The modest fashion, or fashion dedicated to the Islamic world, continues to grow, becoming a mainstream phenomenon, thanks to the millennials’ efforts.

One of the ways to target the particular fashion sector, which declines in a glamorous key the traditional clothing, created in line with the principles of the Koran, i.e. veil, arms and legs covered, no neckline is not that much entrancing.

Next week - from 6 to 8 March - the Modest Fashion Week will be held in Dubai at Emerald Palace Kempinsky, organized by Think Fashion founded by Franka Soeria and Özlem Şahin. The lawyer Facchinetti will be present as an invited guest.

As reported by the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2018/19 (document produced by Thomson Reuters in collaboration with DinarStandard and the Dubai International Financial Center), in 2017 the modest fashion recorded a turnover of 270 billion US dollars ( around € 237 billion). Value destined to increase by 2023 of 5% per year, reaching 361 billion US dollars. Islamic fashion, in particular, represents the second category of expenditure after food & beverage (1.3 trillion US dollars) for Muslims, who spent about 2.1 trillion US dollars for lifestyle consumption in 2018.

The leading/driving States in terms of expendituresin the fashion industry in 2017 were Turkey (28 billion US dollars), United Arab Emirates (22 billion), Indonesia (20 billion), Nigeria (18 billion), Saudi Arabia ( 17 billion), Russia (13 billion), Pakistan (12 billion), Iran (12 billion) India (12 billion) and Egypt (11 billion).

The most famous and long-established brands have proposed in recent years several collections dedicated to the Islamic world and inspired by modest fashion: all confirming its growth and positive trend. An example is Dolce&Gabbana, that launched the Abaya collection in 2016 in partnership and cooperation with Ruba Zai, or H&M with the collection dedicated to modest fashion called Ltd. Likewise, Uniqlo and Mango had proposed their dedicated capsules. The same is true about the modest fashion collections launched by CH Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Massimo Dutti and Max Mara.

Further evidence of the phenomenon is the inauguration in Istanbul Zeruj Port of the first mall totally dedicated to Islamic fashion by the entrepreneur and social star Zehra Özkaymaz (known on Instagram as Zeruj). A lavish presentation held on May 11, 2018 in front of a wall overflowing with balloons and pink&white flowers.

In the whole world, 1.8 billion Muslims in 2017 alone spent about 1.85 trillion euros on meeting the needs of life (food, travel, fashion, entertainment and cosmetics). Fashion is the second item of expenditure after the "halal" food, the turnover of which, in turn, amounted to 1.1 trillion euros.

Moreover, the desire for modest fashion has come decisively to the younger generation, which, while respecting religious instruction, does not want to be reunited with colored garments and classy details that personalize the look and can win many likes on Instagram.

The network plays a crucial role in the spread of this phenomenon. First of all, in terms of communication: Instagram has over 1.3 million posts with #modestfashion hashtag and inactive authorities of Dina Torkia’s caliber (1.4 million subscribers), Marwa Hassan (1.3 million) and Halima (764 thousand).

Owing to this growing popularity, even specialized modest fashion platforms are growing: from the Turkish online store Modanisa, founded in 2011, which today offers more than 70,000 products and 500 brands (and registers 16 million users per month) to Modist, an online multi-brand, based in Dubai, Ghizlan Guenez, who in September announced an agreement with Farfetch (which, in turn, signed a partnership with the Chalhoub group).

Atty. Simone Facchinetti