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 How the Modest industry is and can be a successful business. 

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 How the Modest industry is and can be a successful business. 

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More and more women prefer to dress elegantly without being too exposed. The 'modest fashion' movement is one of the fastest growing trends in the fashion world. A silent fashion revolution, thanks to #metoo.

An unexplored 'mass niche'

RetailDetail spoke with Lisa Bridgett, COO at The Modist, a global webshop selling a range of concealing clothing from high fashion luxury brands such as Ann Demeulemeester, Haider Ackermann, Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs or Wolford. "We launched the webshop in the spring of 2017 in response to international women's day. It immediately became a success story: we are currently growing by 300% and we will certainly exceed that figure next year."

But what is 'modest fashion' actually? It is a trend in which women want to dress fashionable and elegant, but do not want to reveal too much skin. For example, the clothing has a higher neckline, is longer, has longer sleeves and a different cut or works with different layers. Initially the trend was mainly driven by the Muslim world, but the clientele is certainly not limited to religiously inspired women, says Lisa Bridgett. "Some women are driven by their faith, others prefer discrete clothing because, for example, they often interact with men in the business world. Or because they are a bit older, or have more curves. It is a very wide audience! Really a 'mass niche' that is still almost unexplored!"

"This is going to explode"

Do not think about niqabs or burqas, emphasizes Bridgett. This is definitely about contemporary, fashionable and elegant pieces. In the past, modesty was perhaps mostly covered and boring, but not anymore today. "We change how women look at fashion. You do not necessarily have to be white, blonde and slim. We are there for all races, ages, styles and sizes." Concealing fashion is in line with the spirit of the times, moreover. Just think of the whole #metoo movement. "There is a whole new idea of ​​femininity, being picked up by the media. Social trends have given us a platform."

She therefore sees how the traditional fashion industry is changing dramatically. "Fashion was always driven by Paris, London, Milan and New York. But that is a limited, outdated vision. Today the consumer is at the steering wheel. Influencers set the tone: thanks to social media, people get a voice. We are truly a retailer of the 21st century, we stand for a mission, we have a reason to exist. We want to be relevant and meaningful. That appeals especially to the generation of millennials. They use different values ​​and step away from stereotypical ideas. This is really a big movement worldwide, which will soon become more mainstream. Believe me, this is going to explode!"

Data analysis and personalization

The Modist is explicitly positioned in the higher luxury segment. The average spending is around 700 dollars (620 euros). "In the Middle East, the average shopping basket is somewhat larger than in the US and Europe. China is also becoming an interesting market." The webshop curates collections of up to 180 international designers. Do those luxury brands feel comfortable with the association with modest fashion? "When we started, they were especially surprised about our approach. But our elevator pitch worked, they realized that we came to the market with a new and fresh view on elegance. Some fashion houses need some more time to understand our strengths, but I can tell you that we have some nice new brands ready for launch in 2019."

In addition, The Modist also has its own label, Layeur. "Based on data analysis we can find out what is missing in our offer and respond to it. We invest in machine learning and personalization to better understand our shoppers. We see that today there is no longer one trend in fashion, there are many trends side by side and many women combine cheaper pieces with brand clothing, for example. In our webshop, dresses are the best-selling category. Many women do not want a deep cut-out or naked back. We also respond to the increasing sensitivity to the environmental impact of the fashion industry. These are durable pieces, it is not disposable clothing."

Leader

The Modist has offices in Dubai and London. Internationally, customers come mainly from the United Arab Emirates, the US and the UK. The Netherlands is the biggest market on the European continent, followed by Germany and France. Can we call the company a pioneer in its sector? "I think so. We are a leader in this segment. Other retailers sometimes respond to modest fashion with small capsule collections, but then women really have to search for it in the large assortment. What we do is unique. Our collection shows barely 15% overlap with other web shops. We have carefully curated everything we sell."

What are the next steps for the retailer? "We want to improve the customer experience and we are going to attract even more super premium designer brands. We also further develop our own Layeur collections. Furthermore, we look at our logistics operations. Today we deliver within two days after ordering, from a distribution center in Dubai, but perhaps we can also consider hubs in the US and Europe."

Discount code

On 23 November, Lisa Bridgett will speak in Antwerp at the first Modest Fashion Forum, a conference that looks at the changes and opportunities in the fashion sector from a European perspective. Other speakers are Mariah Idrissi, the first hijabi model for H&M, influencer Sarah Dimani, Abigayle André of the British webshop Modessa, and Kaat Debo, director of the Antwerp Fashion Museum. Readers of RetailDetail can attend the event at the discounted entrance price of 70 euros instead of 95 euros, with the discount code partnermff18. You can register via this link.

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More and more women prefer to dress elegantly without being too exposed. The 'modest fashion' movement is one of the fastest growing trends in the fashion world. A silent fashion revolution, thanks to #metoo.

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Drappers article on how retailers can cater from the Muslim Fashion Market.  

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Drappers article on how retailers can cater from the Muslim Fashion Market.  

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Tap the phrase #modestfashion into Instagram and instantly hundreds of thousands of tagged photos flick on to the screen, fashion inspiration in the form of maxi-dresses, jumpsuits, headscarves, hijabs and abayas, posted by women around the world who are reinventing the meaning of modest fashion. Social media is abuzz with the modest movement, and there is a thriving demand for fashionable modestwear, driven by young and mainly Muslim consumers.

This summer on the beaches of Cannes, Nice and other French cities, women were banned from wearing "burkinis" - loose-fitting full-covering bodysuits - instead of conventional swimsuits, again placing the fashion choices of Muslim women under public scrutiny.

Yet aside from the politicised debates, the modest fashion economy is booming, dominated by the global Muslim population, but also serving the orthodox Jewish and Christian communities.

A generation of young, faith- and fashion-conscious shoppers is driving a surge in demand, both globally and in the UK, for on-trend, modest clothing. While the market may be growing, the potential for fashion retailers to cater to this consumer in the UK remains largely untapped.

The worldwide Muslim spend on clothing will more than double to $484bn (£367bn) by 2019, up from $230bn (£174.4bn) in 2015, a Reuters and Dinar Standard report predicts. The Muslim Council of Britain estimates that British Muslim spending power currently sits at £20.5bn. At the 2011 census there were almost 3 million Muslims living in the UK, and research agency Stylus, reports that one in eight Londoners now identifies as Muslim. As many of the women in this community choose modest dressing, fashion retailers are seeking to attract the Muslim pound.

Muslim spending power is obvious is other sectors. During Ramadan in the UK Tesco expects an average 70% sales uplift on targeted promotional items, representing a £30m sales boost. Brands such as Mango, Monsoon and DKNY have already sought to capture this spending power, launching Ramadan edits and collections of modest clothing.

"Over the past couple of years brands have started to see this as a new consumer," says Reina Lewis, professor of cultural studies at London College of Fashion: UAL and author of the book Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures. "Muslims were constructed as a consumer segment, first in relation to finance, then in relation to food and now its fashion."

The modest fashion spend in the UK largely comes from young Muslims. Shelina Janmohamed, vice-president of Islam-focused marketing agency Ogilvy Noor, and author of Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World, believes this consumer necessitates a different approach from brands: "For this group, faith is core to their identity, and they want to feel brands are engaging with them to understand who they are and why their faith is important to them.

"For young Muslim women in particular, wearing modest clothing is their way of expressing their faith. But they want to be fashionable, like all their peers around them."

New brands are responding to the demands of the modest consumer. London-based womenswear brand Aab creates clothing designed for modest consumers.

"There has always been a demand that has not been catered for by mainstream retailers," says Aab commercial director Altaf Alim. "High street retailers follow the catwalks, which sometimes isn't fitting the modest style. What we do is take trends and interpret them with a modest silhouette."

The brand began online in 2007, but has since opened two physical stores, at East Shopping Centre in east London, and one at The Broadway in Bradford, which Alim describes as Aab's "northern flagship". Aab reported double-digit sales growth year on year - although Alim declined to give figures - and the brand was named the 14th most popular Muslim ecommerce business globally by Reuters. UK-based retailers Inayah and Pearl Daisy also featured on the list.

Holy month

High street brands are also gearing existing offerings to the modest market - especially around Ramadan. DKNY, Mango and Monsoon have all released specific "Ramadan" collections aimed at Muslim consumers.

"Often brands are starting out with marketing initiatives," says Lewis. "They're not new clothes but they're marketing them for Ramadan - using Ramadan as 'the new Christmas'."

Some retailers are expanding from modest collections during Ramadan to trans-seasonal collections. Uniqlo first partnered with UK-based Muslim designer Hana Tajima for spring 2015 with a modestwear collection, which launched in the UK for spring 2016.

Emily Gordon-Smith, head of fashion at Stylus, sees this as an important step for modest fashion in the UK: "Uniqlo is interesting because they're using year round perspective as opposed to it just being seasonal. That's an exciting move specifically catering to the modest-dressing community as a whole."

House of Fraser is similarly adopting a year-round approach to the modest market, and in April 2015 began to stock burkinis and sports hijabs from modest-sportswear brand Shorso online. A spokesman for House of Fraser said the lines were "part of House of Fraser's strategy to provide a wide choice of products to reflect the needs of our diverse customer base".

Nevertheless, mainstream brands and retailers targeting Muslim shoppers must beware of taking a superficial approach. Alia Khan, chairwoman for the Islamic Fashion and Design Council, which provides consultation and support to brands targeting the modest and Muslim market, stresses that brands entering the modest market must have a full understanding of consumers and their religious principles.

"You have big names like Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Prada dabbling in this market but then you see very mixed reviews, which boils down to them showing they don't really understand and maybe they haven't done due diligence," she argues. "They may come up with a dress of the right length but it could be see-through in the light or have the wrong sleeve length. Designers have to be extremely mindful of things like that because it's a lot more important to this market than it would be to the mainstream consumer."

Janmohamed agrees, and insists the way to engage this consumer is by understanding their motivations: "We need to help brands to deepen their understanding of what it means to live a Muslim lifestyle, what beauty means to these Muslim women, what they want to express about themselves. There is this feeling, as shown by a lot of things in the press, that fashion is not something that can go hand in hand with faith, but these women are saying exactly the opposite."

Modest makeovers

In addition to understanding the consumer, retailers and brands can also curate selections to cater for the modest market.

Lewis notes that retailers could appeal to the market simply by highlighting existing products: "Women who dress modestly are incredibly good at spotting potential in trends. You can make quite subtle clues and it can make consumers feel recognised."

As the Muslim population is set to increase to 29% of the global total by 2030, modest fashion is on an upwards trajectory. The potential gain for fashion retailers relies on understanding a complex, conscious consumer and catering to their specific needs.

"The market is only going to get stronger and more sophisticated," says the Islamic Fashion and Design Council's Khan. "There are some really exciting players in this game, and things will become more and more exciting as we see them develop their work."

The power of the Muslim pound

$484bn (£367bn) estimated Muslim spend on clothing globally by 2019 (Reuters and Dinar Standard)

$230bn (£174.4bn) current Muslim spend on clothing globally (Reuters and Dinar Standard)

£20.5bn current estimated British Muslim spending power (MCB)

2.78 million Muslims in the UK (2011 census)

53.9% Muslims in the UK are under 19 (2011 census)

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How can brands and retailers cater for the £367bn Muslim fashion market?

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Tap the phrase #modestfashion into Instagram and instantly hundreds of thousands of tagged photos flick on to the screen, fashion inspiration in the form of maxi-dresses, jumpsuits, headscarves, hijabs and abayas, posted by women around the world who are reinventing the meaning of modest fashion.

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What business are doing wrong withing the modest clothing industry. 

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What business are doing wrong withing the modest clothing industry. 

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Modest fashion is booming, but many large and small brands are failing to increase sales within this segment. This is article examines the reasons as to why this is. Once we've identified the issue, the solution is fairly a simple one. Let's start by defining what I will be talking about.

Modest fashion: (i.e. Islamic fashion) identifies fashion in line with Islamic principles, influenced differently by cultures and geographical locations. Although there are different interpretations of the rules of modest clothing, generally speaking, modest fashion translates into loose clothing that covers the body and adheres to Islamic values. We are also seeing several trends that are taking the entire market by storm worldwide. This is mainly caused by young Muslim women being as influencers on social media.

Me-Too: This is a positioning term that refers to brands that jump on the bandwagon of a rising industry, offering the same products or services as everyone else in the market without having a unique selling proposition.

Modest Fashion is Rising

Currently, the market is valued at a whopping $240 Bn and is increasing by 30% by 2020 to $320 Bn. Here is a detailed video on the state and the future of the modest fashion market. Millennial Muslim women are breaking stereotypes and kicking butt in an ever-changing industry, in times where Islamophobia and xenophobia is at its peak. Established and new brands view this as a once in lifetime opportunity and are entering the market as soon as possible.

However, this is a developing market that is quickly becoming over saturated with companies that are similar, if not the same. Most of the startups are not seeing the success that was anticipated. Large fashion brands such as D&G, Mango and YSL have tried to enter the market, and although the gained international recognition, they still received backlash from young Muslim women online. What is happening? Why are brands that are targeting millennial Muslim women directly not getting the success that they anticipated? We'll take a look at what went wrong and how to succeed in this booming market.

Backlash: Large Fashion Brands

Firstly, it's important to note that the brands mentioned earlier in this article that have entered the millennial Muslim market, offered nothing new compared to what already has been available. Brands need to come up with something unique to offer to this market. Like all women, Muslim women tend to not buy a piece from your brand if it is the same style or design as another high street retailer. Be innovative in solving problems that millennial Muslim women face, for example, light and airy materials work great in the summer, but they shouldn't be see-through.

Secondly, these brands and many others, have greatly underestimated the intelligence of the market. Brands tend to expect amazing reactions from Muslim women when offering targeted collections. The lack of products and collections is not the only struggle that Muslim women face, it goes beyond that. These women want to be represented and empowered, as well as involved in the process of the creation.

Thirdly, brands have been lacking in proper design consultation on basic things such as transparency, length and material of clothing. It seems to be that the difference of perception and use of fashion for Muslim women is something that has been missed by marketers and designers.

Lastly, there was a lack of story for these women to buy into, a story that gives the creation of the product a purpose. The absence of a story made Muslim women feel that brands are finally catering to them, because of the big cash in the game. The reasons for catering to Muslim women should have been stronger and revolve around a story that empowers women and laying a clear, long-term strategy. In order to avoid being a gold-digging-one-hit wonder, the brand strategy needs to communicate a long-term relationship.

Improper Positioning: Small Fashion Brands

There seems to be a new "modest fashion brand" turning up every other week. This is great, because that means that the market demand is only growing, however, the major flaw these me-too startup brands have, is entering the market with a short-term, or in the worst case, no strategy. The market is getting more saturated with me-too brands that are claiming the same claim, which means that only the first brands will succeed and the rest remain to struggle. Take the Burkini as an example: the swim wear that covers the entire body, sold over 700 000 pieces by the company that invented it. The great figures have worked as inspiration to many others, but the other "Burkini" brand's that followed did not do so well.

So should you not start a modest fashion brand? Quite the contrary, this market offers opportunities that no other market offers. The point is, that you should never enter the market without fully understanding branding and positioning. Don't worry about manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce and everything else, these are technical issues that are easily solved. Understand the importance of positioning and make it your priority.

RUH collective and Aywa London are a few examples of brands doing it right, but still the majority are simply recycling what is already in the market. Ruh Collective stands for ethical modest fashion, and make this very clear through their branding and positioning. A strong USP and position will make you stand out amongst your competition. You have to take future competition in consideration also. This may not be an easy task, but definitely possible with a positioning and branding professional that fully understands the market which you are entering.

Personal Branding: Modest Fashion Influencers

There are hundreds of millennial Muslim influencers, with some having millions of followers. Many brand owners aspire to be influencers to further boost the company image as well as the personal brand. The truth is that there are only a handful of successful influencers and the rest are me-too imitators.

The positioning model is amplified in personal branding. People relate to people and are very quickly to spot if you are trying to do something that is already in the market, making you lose authenticity and authority within the industry. This makes you a second or even a tenth choice in comparison to your competition. Once you have been placed down the positioning ladder in the mind of your customer, there is no coming back. People and brands have spend millions trying to change their position in the mind of the consumer and have never succeeded due to wrong positioning in the first place.

How to solve this? Find a gap in the market that you can fill. Hanna Tajima is perhaps one of the best examples of an influencer that has done well, because of her unique approach to modest fashion. Tajima might not attract a million generic likes and follows, but whoever she is attracting is a true fan of her artistic style. Her positioning and personal branding clearly works, as she has done two huge deals with UNIQLO, designing modest fashion collections. I will leave the financial benefits of those deals up to your imagination.

Another model who is doing great is Mariah Idrissi. She has leveraged her position as the first Muslim model to be featured in a major mainstream ad, and rightly so! Now Idrissi is an authority on this subject and is the first Muslim to enter a large modelling agency. See her speech on Changing The Face of Fashion.

The Solution: Positioning

The subheading says it all. Did you know that the name you choose for your product or brand could cost you millions in the future? I won't be able to say it better than Al Ries and Jack Trout, so here it is:

"Positioning starts with a product. A piece of merchandise, a service, a company, an institution, or even a person. Perhaps yourself. But positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect. So it's incorrect to call the concept "product positioning." You're not really doing something to the product itself. Positioning is the first body of thought that comes to grips with the difficult problem of getting heard in our over communicated society."

The work flow to reach the right position in the market is a more complex matter to explain. You can try to learn positioning and try to do it yourself. You can also hire a branding agency that is an expert in understanding the market and the work necessary. Positioning might include things such as naming, market segmentation, USP, Cognitive Response Model (CRM) and Peripheral Response Model (PRM). Here are some things to understand and communicate with your agency.
Positioning:
Overwhelmed?

Don't worry, this is a normal response for non-branders. Even experienced marketing directors struggle with this. This article can go on for much longer. But, every brand is different and its not possible to cover everything in one go. This might be complex and overwhelming, but absolutely vital to build a world class brand. Positioning is the secret behind every glossy and smooth looking brand. H&M, Nike and Primark go through the same process over and over again to make sure that they are properly positioned in your mind.

Have you skipped this? I urge you to press pause and look down on your foundation. Remember, you cannot build a strong brand based on a weak foundation. Build something that is long-lasting so that you don't have to renovate a flimsy product line or business.

MILLION DOLLAR HINT: Be the first in a niche. Find a gap and fill it.

by Anmar Matrood
Brand & Marketing Strategist at Qufi Creative

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Modest Fashion: The Rising "Me Too" Industry - TMV

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Modest fashion is booming, but many large and small brands are failing to increase sales within this segment. This is article examines the reasons as to why this is. Once we've identified the issue, the solution is fairly a simple one. Let's start by defining what I will be talking about.

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The modest fashion movement fills a gap in mainstream fashion for modern style-conscious women who want to shop for elegant and trend-led clothing that still adheres to religious and cultural guidelines.

The most talented modest fashion designers create clothes that speak for themselves and empower women to be stylish and confident regardless of their colour, body shape, or faith.
1. Hana Tajima
Hana Tajima is a British-Japanese designer, best known for her collaborations with Uniqlo. The first Uniqlo x Hana Tajima collection was launched in Asia but later collections were available worldwide, following huge demand in other countries.

Hana Tajima's clothes are minimal and contemporary, with oversized silhouettes, natural fibres and warm colours being the defining features. The Spring/Summer 2018 collection is currently available from Uniqlo and priced between £7.90 and £29.90
2. Dian Pelangi
Indonesian husband and wife team Djamaloedin and Hernanl started the brand Dian Pelangi in 1991 - it's named after their daughter who was born the same year. Dian is Creative Director of the brand and uses her 2.5 million Instagram followers to influence modest fashion in Indonesia and worldwide.

Pelangi is the Indonesian word for rainbow, and is fitting for a brand that makes bold use of colour and print. The designs mix traditional Indonesian batik textiles with modern silhouettes.
3. Diana Kotb
Australian designer Diana Kotb launched her own label after a 10-year career working for some of Australia's top fashion designers and a stint at Marie Claire magazine. Inspired by the brands and garments she worked with, she set out to design luxury modest fashion for Muslim women.

Her pieces focus on high quality construction, finishes, and fabrics, with an extensive collection ranging from daywear to bridal.
4. Lulu Alhadad
Singaporean Lulu Alhadad is a self-taught designer who started out creating dresses for her family.

Her accessible collection is bright and flamboyant with styles to suit any age, including children, and there's even a special "mom & daughter" collection of matching kaftans.
5. Rico Rinaldi
Malaysian designer Rico Rinaldi creates stunning haute couture gowns and an equally impressive modest ready-to-wear collection of headscarves, dresses and loose-fitting trouser suits.

He also offers a couture-inspired modest bridal collection, a men's line, and recently collaborated with Japanese fabric designer Tomita Senkogei on a kimono-inspired collection for Zalora.
6. FIZIWOO
Mohd Hafizi Radzi Woo and Izree Kai Haffiz came together in 2011 to create FIZIWOO, inspired by their respective backgrounds in fashion and architecture.

The label is a favourite of modest fashion influencers and has been featured in some of Malaysia's top magazines. As well as modest wear, there's also a line of couture and bridal, so there's something for even the most glamorous occasions.
7. Mimpikita
Mimpikita - "our dream" in Malaysian - was started by three sisters, Nurul, Mira and Syera Zulkifli, who wanted to shake off old-fashioned views about Muslim women and create clothing that reflected each woman as an individual.

The pieces focus on wearability and comfort and include tailored shirts, satin shawls, wide-leg trousers, and wrap dresses in a palette of pastels and jewel tones. After showing at London Fashion Week in 2016, we're sure to see more from this Malaysian fashion house.
8. Anniesa Hasibuan
Indonesian designer Anniesa Hasibuan has shown at New York Fashion Week (she was the first ever designer to feature hijabs in every outfit) and her collections are stocked at Debenhams, Zalora, and other major fashion outlets.

Her designs are bold and dramatic with unique use of colour, texture, and embellishment. Inspired by fairytales, the clothes nod to traditional Indonesian culture with a contemporary point of view.
www.anniesahasibuan.com 9. Nurita Harith
Fine Arts graduate Nurita Harith creates soft and feminine draped styles in muted and sophisticated tones. With Malaysian heritage and growing up in the UK, she has a unique take on modest fashion that is accessible and appealing to a wide audience.

Harith's bridal collections are particularly sought after, and she also produces an annual "Lebaran Luxe" collection for Ramadan.
10. Inayah
London-based Inayah started in 2010 as an accessories brand that branched out into maxi dresses and abayas. The designs aim to fuse vintage, traditional and contemporary elements and incorporate current trends.

These styles are classic, simple, and available in a range of nature-inspired colours. Inayah makes the perfect one-stop-shop for the modern Muslim woman's capsule wardrobe.

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The modest fashion movement fills a gap in mainstream fashion for modern style-conscious women who want to shop for elegant and trend-led clothing that still adheres to religious and cultural guidelines. The most talented modest fashion designers create clothes that speak for themselves and empower women to be stylish and confident regardless of their colour, body shape, or faith.

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H&M First ever Modest clothing collection. 

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H&M First ever Modest clothing collection. 

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This is the brand's first official foray into modest clothing

Clothing brand H&M is releasing a modest clothing collection, set to debut on May 3, in an effort to appeal to a global consumer.

The modest fashion line, the first for the brand, will be called LTD Collection and feature a two-part collection, with the other designs set to release May 24.

Following in the footsteps of brands such as Nike, American Eagle, and Macy's, H&M's modest collection will feature clothing designs all with long hems and long sleeves.

Read more

According to Pernilla Wohlfahrt, head of design at H&M, who spoke to Glamour magazine, the brand is simply giving people what they want - as customer interest in a modest line has increased in recent years.

She said: "Today H&M is present in 69 markets, and we want to be diverse and inclusive to all the markets where we operate. We want to be able to offer something for everyone."

The collection, which will be exclusive to spring and features beautiful flowy designs, will only be available online on the brand's e-commerce site.

Although this means you won't be able to try the pieces on before purchasing, it provides the benefit of offering the entire collection in one place for those who want to purchase more than one outfit.

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And, according to Wohlfahrt, they expect the new line to do quite well, considering the success H&M has had in the past with a modest-inspired release, including a 2015 campaign which featured Mariah Idrissi, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.

The retailer is also confident the new line, with its billowing skirts and bright colours, will appeal to all shoppers, even those not interested exclusively in modest clothing.

Fashion Revolution in pictures
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1/12 Fashion Revolution in pictures

All of the pieces in the LTD Collection, which includes dresses, skirts, and pants, feature hems that reach from mid-calf to ankle and prices range from $59.99 to $129 (£44 to £94).

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1/4 H&M debuts its first modest clothing collection

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H&M debuts its first modest clothing collection

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This is the brand's first official foray into modest clothing Clothing brand H&M is releasing a modest clothing collection, set to debut on May 3, in an effort to appeal to a global consumer. The modest fashion line, the first for the brand, will be called LTD Collection and feature a two-part collection, with the other designs set to release May 24.

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Forbes- "Modest Clothing is the next big thing"

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Forbes- "Modest Clothing is the next big thing"

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Modest fashion is gaining momentum, driven by e-commerce, social media and other nontraditional channels. What is modest fashion? Interpretations differ, but generally speaking, it refers to looking stylish while remaining relatively covered. For many, modest fashion is a personal choice that simply means wearing more traditional styles-longer hemlines or higher collars, for example. These previously "less cool" wardrobe styles are now en vogue.

In February, London hosted its first-ever Modest Fashion Week, featuring more than 40 labels showcasing styles that ranged from maxi dresses to hijabs. While modest fashion has often been associated with religious observance, it is gaining more attention among nonreligious consumers as well.

Last month, we had the opportunity to meet Nava Brief-Fried, the founder and CEO of ModLi, an online marketplace for modest, modern clothing for women. Brief-Fried described ModLi as "Etsy for conservative women." The marketplace was created more than 15 months ago and is now the go-between for more than 100 boutiques worldwide. ModLi follows the approach that modesty can be defined in many ways, which allows the company to cater to women of different lifestyles and religions. Today, the company sells hundreds of different items, including swimwear, formal and casual dresses, shirts, and skirts, as well as head coverings and accessories. ModLi features items ranging from preteen to adult styles, and in sizes small to plus-size.

The website receives more than 150,000 visitors every month, and Brief-Fried says that 90% of ModLi's sales are made in the U.S., which came as a surprise to her. Because ModLi is an Israeli company, she thought her target customer was going to be in Israel, but she discovered through geotracking that her target customer was actually in the U.S. Brief-Fried said the company has launched private-label brands with the intention of designing and curating items specifically for customers' needs and wants. She said the market for modest women's apparel presents much growth opportunity. The fact that this burgeoning niche market is not yet even measured in the U.S. by government or commercial economic analysts suggests that she is right.

According to the "State of the Global Islamic Economy Report" produced by Reuters in collaboration with DinarStandard, Muslim consumers spent an estimated $243 billion on clothing in 2015. Modest fashion purchases by Muslim women were estimated at $44 billion that year, which was approximately 18% of the total. Muslim consumer spending on clothing is expected to reach $368 billion by 2021, which would be a 51% increase from 2015.

Mass-market retailers and designers are taking notice of this market's potential and joining the modest mix. For example, in early March, Nike introduced its Pro Hijab line for Muslim female athletes. Other brands, including DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta, Monique Lhuillier, Zara and Mango, have produced special collections for the Ramadan holiday. Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo introduced its Uniqlo x Hana Tajima Collection with a line of hijabs, and H&M featured a Muslim model wearing a hijab in a video ad. In January, Dolce & Gabbana released a collection of hijabs and abayas. These and other designers are contributing to the growth of the modest fashion industry.

Most importantly, the modest fashion movement is more mainstream and multibrand than ever before. It is not reserved just for those who follow religious customs when it comes to apparel. Today's modest fashion buyer selects pieces based on style and takes inspiration from many sources. Empowered by wider choice, women seeking modest styles can mix and match, choosing from an array of designers, brands, styles, colors and textures. Modest fashion styles include maxi dresses, flowing dresses, Dior-inspired flare skirts, layers, turtlenecks, long sleeves under short sleeves, scarves, tunics and palazzo pants from high- and low-end designers and brands. There is no singular look that defines modest fashion: it is open to interpretation and can be beautiful while being either eclectic or edgy.

Modesty is both a fashion choice and a lifestyle, and social media platforms allow individuals who dress modestly to share styles, experiences and views. Through social media, the modest apparel consumer can see her options, read about how other women are styling looks and learn about others' perspectives. A website called The Modist bills itself as offering "luxury modest style for extraordinary women" and features an online magazine for women who are interested in modest fashion. On Pinterest, there are hundreds of pins of modestly dressed women. On YouTube, a modest fashion vlogger named NabiilaBee has posted videos that have been viewed more than 16.5 million times. Her postings include "how to" hijab tutorials. She has said, "I started doing hijab style YouTube tutorials because when I was young, I didn't have anyone to look up to. I didn't want to take my scarf off-it's not an accessory, it's what I believe."

The modest fashion market is primed for disruption, in a good way.

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Modest fashion is gaining momentum, driven by e-commerce, social media and other nontraditional channels. What is modest fashion? Interpretations differ, but generally speaking, it refers to looking stylish while remaining relatively covered. For many, modest fashion is a personal choice that simply means wearing more traditional styles-longer hemlines or higher collars, for example.

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Leia- Modest leisure/active-wear online retailer (inspiration) 

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Leia- Modest leisure/active-wear online retailer (inspiration) 

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Written by Sarah Masiyiwa, CNN

Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, shuffling more than 400,000 flights up and down its runways each year.

But during a sunny weekend in September, it exchanged high skies for high fashion, hosting a photo shoot for Vogue Arabia's final issue of 2018.

Vogue Arabia launched in 2016, and has since featured an impressive lineup of internationally-renowned cover models, including Gigi Hadid and Rihanna.

However, the magazine's Middle Eastern edition sets itself apart from its sister publications by embracing regional influencers and styles grounded in Arabian cultures and values. The airport shoot headlined by Iranian model Farnoush Hamidian and British-Somali model Shahira Yusuf, was no exception.

Changing face of modeling

In 2017, Yusuf became the first hijabi model to sign a contract with Storm Management, the agency known for discovering supermodel Kate Moss.

"We're Muslim women," Yusuf explains. "We wear our headscarves because of religious beliefs, at the end of the day.

"It might be a trend, in terms of mainstream media picking up on these types of things, but it's something that has always been around."

Few people understand the need for inclusion better than supermodel and fashion icon Naomi Campbell, who graced the cover of Vogue Arabia's November 2018 issue. Campbell spent much of her early modeling career breaking race barriers and championing diversity in her industry, eventually becoming the first black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue in 1988.

It's something that should of been the norm and it's every race and creed," Campbell told CNN while discussing strides made to increase the visibility of Muslim models. "Everyone has their religion (and) has to be respected."

While the recent victories for diversity are a cause for celebration, Campbell was quick to contain her excitement with a dose of reality.

"This is how it should have always been," she said. "It's incredible to say it's taken us to get to 2017, 2018 for it to happen, but most importantly (it's incredible) that it's happening."

A more 'modest' clientele

Modest fashion, a term that describes garments catered to women who choose to wear less revealing clothing, has grown in prominence in the global fashion industry.

Early movers in the modest wear sector have been rewarded by a lucrative and relatively untapped market -- Muslim women spent $44 billion on modest fashion in 2015, according to an industry report by Thomson Reuters. And this number does not capture modest clothing bought by women of other religions and cultures, or those who simply appreciate its aesthetic.

"The reality is that modesty, at least the way we look at it, transcends religion, it transcends age, size, where you come from," explains Ghizlan Guenez, the entrepreneur behind e-commerce platform The Modist.

The Modist stocks and curates luxury clothing from regional and local brands, and is tailored to women who dress modestly. For Guenez, making modest clothing accessible gives power back to women who have, until recently, been neglected in the luxury fashion space.

"One of the things we're very passionate about is the idea of choice, she says. "And we truly believe that choice, and exercising that, is the most empowering thing."

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the muslim models challenging modest fashion stereotypes - cnn

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The people challenging modest fashion stereotypes

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Written by Sarah Masiyiwa, CNN Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, shuffling more than 400,000 flights up and down its runways each year. But during a sunny weekend in September, it exchanged high skies for high fashion, hosting a photo shoot for Vogue Arabia's final issue of 2018.

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Nike's take on the Modest sportswear Industry.

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Nike's take on the Modest sportswear Industry.

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The Pro Hijab: Nike's Latest Take On The Modest Sportswear Industry

I had just lauded the beauty sect for taking to diversity and inclusion, now, activewear marque - Nike, usher us into International women's day with the launch of their new product, the pro Hijab. The Pro Hijab is a collaboration between Muslim athletes in the Middle East which features participants Zahra Lari, the first figure skater from the United Arab Emirates ; Manal Rostom, a runner and triathlete currently living in Dubai; and Amna Al Haddad, an Olympic weight lifter from the United Arab Emirates.

Nike's latest market extension has gotten quite a reaction - obviously, seeing that it came from one of the most validated sportswear brands in the world. Firstly, I feel it is important to point out that Nike isn't the first mainstream sports brand to cater to the needs of female muslim athletes. There have been brands such as Oregon -based Oiselle, Danish brand Hummel and more who have since recognized the need for representation.

However, Nike's take on the modest sportswear industry could be exactly what is needed. With Nike's recent involvement, perhaps, exclusions like the ban on head-covering by FIBA, the Basketball federation which yet to be rescinded will be overturned following its new partnership with the sportswear marque - Nike is 'the official partner for product and marketing at Fiba's biggest competitions' - including the Fiba women's basketball World Cup - providing apparel, footwear, and equipment. Will that include its new hijab?" A remark by ESPN sportswriter Kavitha Davidso n. It would be rather absurd for Nike to partner with a federation that excludes the same hijabis, don't you think?

Beyond exclusion, there is the need for comfort. Female Muslim athletes constantly struggle with finding headgear that will not slow them down or distract them from arduous physical exercise which is why they are creating and designing their own hijabs from crowdsourcing and fundraising. It was weight-lifter Amna Al Haddad who consulted with Nike and came up with some ideas based on her own experience. She had been finding it difficult to acquire a hijab that met her requirements for her weight-lifting competitions - pointing out that it would not shift when she moved and that it would be more breathable - this inspired the Pro Hijab project - Nike spokeswoman Megan Saalfeld explained that this hijab was created "as a direct result of our athletes telling us they needed this product to perform better, and we hope that it will help athletes around the world do just that."

The hijab is expected to cost $35, is made of a lightweight, stretchy mesh polyester and will come in gray, black and obsidian. Let me translate . It is very affordable, the fabrics are super comfortable and the hijabs come in toned-down sporty hues.

While this doesn't exactly mean that Nike have become the Messiah for female muslim athletes, their support does mean a lot. "For us, we come up with ideas, and ways to be comfortable in what we wear, but to have the No. 1 sport and fitness brand in the world facilitate this process for us?To provide something we can grab and wear in 10 seconds? It's going to change everything." remarked runner and triathlete Manal Rostom. Some athletes not be for the brand's signature 'Swoosh' but it is undeniable that Nike's hand can turn things around.

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The Pro Hijab: Nike's Latest Take On The Modest Sportswear Industry - Blanck Digital

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I had just lauded the beauty sect for taking to diversity and inclusion, now, activewear marque - Nike, usher us into International women's day with the launch of their new product, the pro Hijab.

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Dignitti- Online Modest Clothing retailer (Inspiration) 

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Dignitti- Online Modest Clothing retailer (Inspiration) 

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© 2019 Dignitii Activewear Inc. Powered by Shopify

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Business Of Fashion Report- the State of Fashion 2019.

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Business Of Fashion Report- the State of Fashion 2019.

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Special fashion shows take place at London Modest Fashion Week that is held at Olympia, London on April 15 -16, 2017, under the sponsorship of Modanisa!

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Zalando South Africa Modest Range (Inspiration) 

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Zalando South Africa Modest Range (Inspiration) 

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Shop over over 50 products at the Free delivery available in South Africa.

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Fall 2018 Ready To Wear Runway sportswear Looks. 

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Fall 2018 Ready To Wear Runway sportswear Looks. 

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Sportmax Fall 2018 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show

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The complete Sportmax Fall 2018 Ready-to-Wear fashion show now on Vogue Runway.

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Pinterest Mood Board of modest active-wear. 

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Pinterest Mood Board of modest active-wear. 

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Mood Board i created to show my mood/inspiration for my products.

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Discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration and other ideas to try.

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Global Brands bring fashion & Function to modest fashion. 

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Global Brands bring fashion & Function to modest fashion. 

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By Silvia Ullah

At the base of the modest fashion movement, there are women who have the willingness to fight against the typical imaginary of the modest woman presented by the media as a monotonous individual who follows a very simplistic lifestyle. In reality, modesty is a relative concept that changes from person to person, and even though the concept of modesty has always been attributed to religious women, specially referring to their modest clothing, it is a style that is followed by many individuals for reasons that go beyond faith.

Muslim women have always wanted to fight against the stereotype that represents them as passive individuals, when in reality they have been very much active figures in all societies for centuries. Modest fashion has been one of the ways to fight against these types of stereotypes, as it has been well known that clothing is one of the most explicit forms of communicating our identity. But besides fighting against an image that Muslim or modest women in general don't feel represented by, the whole movement was born as a way to satisfy the necessity of modest clothing that can be comfortable, stylish and versatile, and in recent years the global market has shown to be ready to grab this opportunity.

The demand by Muslim women to be able to wear comfortable and also creative sportswear without having to renounce their modesty and to be represented as active women who take care of their body's, has been taken care of not just by exclusively modest fashion brands but mainstream sports brand as well!

As Lisa Vogl, founder of the VERONA COLLECTION, a Muslim modest fashion brand, said when introducing her latest sports collection "Sports, Working out, and staying fit is a part of me and being Muslim certainly doesn't change that"

Even though Nike has created a buzz by being one of the first mainstream sports brand s to introduce the "NIKE HIJAB PRO" which has been tested by many M uslim women before putting it in the market, other Modest fashion brands have already presented their own version of modest act ive wear demanded by Muslim and non-M uslim women in general.

Modest brands that have presented modest sportswear collections are Verona Collection, Asyia, Haramlak, UnderRapt, Nasrine and many more.

Verona collection, whose founder had converted to Islam and expressed difficulty on finding clothing that was comfortable, modest and affordable for instance, has recently introduced a new sportswear collection that presents sport tops of both neutral and eye catching colors and includes all sizes to make sure that all body types can wear them.

There is also UNDERRAPT LTD, the first sustainable modern sportswear brand that promotes a message of sustainability not just with the usage of organic fabrics, but by including sustainable practices in all stages of their business, from production to distribution.

"EMPOWERING WOMEN GLOBALLY BY DELIVERING ORGANIC & ETHICAL SPORTS AND LOUNGEWEAR FOR THE MODEST, MODERN INTERNATIONAL FEMALE"

Then there is the "Cool Dry" head carf introduced by Veil that is made 100% from nylon fabric, along with outer garments like "Halo running hoodie "or " Spark half zip in different colo rs and sizes.

There is also the Spanish based company Haramlak that offers more cr eative varieties of the Burkini, or has presented the headscarf in three different designs to allow different forms of coverage We want all girls to have the opportunity to establish healthy lifestyles and to build a foundation for future success"

Another extremely versatile modest sportswear brand is OOLA SPORTS that has a great variety of contemporary, stylish and elegant modest sports clothing for all kinds of activities, by giving attention to the quality of the fabrics and the technical specifications needed.

"Oola believes that every woman possesses the strength to push her own boundaries, redefine limits and overcome challenges"

Who knew that there was such an abundant selection of different modest sportswear designers out there, releasing on-trend collections that make life fun for all us fashionistas. Do you have a favorite brand that we haven't mentioned, if so, let us know! # ModestRevolution

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The Global Brands Bringing Fashion and Function to Modest Activewear - Islamic Fashion Design Council

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At the base of the modest fashion movement, there are women who have the willingness to fight against the typical imaginary of the modest woman presented by the media as a monotonous individual who follows a very simplistic lifestyle.

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adidas News Site | Press Resources for all Brands, Sports and Innovations

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adidas Originals restocks collection in collaboration with Amsterdam-based designer, Daniëlle Cathari

The release introduces three new colors of Cathari's deconstructed tracksuit

The collection will be available at www.adidas.com, adidas Originals stores, and select retailers

(New York, NY)-In the next chapter of adidas Originals ' ongoing collaboration with Amsterdam-based designer Daniëlle Cathari, the brand introduces three new colors of the coveted tracksuit and restocks past favorites for those who missed out and those who want more.

The women's ready-to-wear capsule collection made its début with a widely acclaimed presentation at New York Fashion Week on February 8th, for which models were hand-selected through an open street casting, followed by a second drop of new styles in March.

The newest additions to the line are accompanied by a new campaign revisiting the models from the original NYFW SS18 presentation. They are seen now one season later, wearing the latest drop on the streets of New York City during NYFW AW18 - where it all began.

adidas Originals by Daniëlle Cathari explores ideas of contrast and deconstruction while paying tribute to Originals' heritage. Cathari's pieces for Originals present a current take on some of the brand's most classic icons, adicolor and adibreak. She reimagines Originals' iconic three stripe silhouettes in exaggerated proportions, innovative materials and design intensive techniques to define a new standard in streetwear.

This restock brings back favorites from the original collection, including the updated tracksuit in classic black and beige as well as a twist on the denim uniform, and introduces a deeper iteration of the original adicolor-inspired palette with tracksuits rendered in vibrant tones of green, navy and red. Fabrications are a study on the adidas archive, featuring the legendary Beckenbauer fabrication synonymous with adidas sportswear and washed denim used in unexpected silhouettes.

Daniëlle Cathari says of the newest drop, " Working with adidas Originals has been more interesting, inspirational and educational than I ever could have predicted when I first received an Instagram direct message from the design team. We've come a long way together since then and I'm so excited that we are able to continue and expand our creative collaboration with these new pieces."

The new and restocked adidas Originals by Daniëlle Cathari collection will be available on www.adidas.com, adidas Originals stores and retailers including ASOS, Barney's, Kith, NET-A-PORTER, Nordstrom and SSENSE beginning on October 6th, 2018.

Inspired by the rich sporting heritage of adidas - one of the world's leading sports brands and a global designer and developer of athletic footwear and apparel - adidas Originals is a lifestyle brand founded in 2001. With the adidas archive at its foundation, adidas Originals continues to evolve the brand's legacy through its commitment to product innovation and its ability to filter the creativity and courage found on courts and sporting arenas through the lens of contemporary youth culture. Marked by the iconic Trefoil logo that was first used in 1972 and championed by those that continue to shape and define creative culture, adidas Originals continues to lead the way as the pioneering sportswear brand for the street.

Daniëlle Cathari was a student at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute and showed as a part of the VFiles runway show for the first time ever during New York Fashion Week. For her honors program at school, she designed a few looks consisting of deconstructed vintage adidas tracksuits which she sourced herself from vintage stores and has built upon this concept for her core collection. The notion of repurposing something new from old materials has always been important to Cathari.

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adidas Originals Restocks Daniëlle Cathari Collection

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adidas Originals restocks collection in collaboration with Amsterdam-based designer, Daniëlle Cathari The release introduces three new colors of Cathari's deconstructed tracksuit The collection will be available at www.adidas.com, adidas Originals stores, and select retailers (New York, NY)-In the next chapter of adidas Originals ' ongoing collaboration with Amsterdam-based designer Daniëlle Cathari, the brand introduces three new colors of the coveted tracksuit and restocks past favorites for those who missed out and those who want more.

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January presents the perfect opportunity for retailers to push activewear and athleisure inspired garments to fulfil customers hunger to get in shape at the start of the year.

More consumers are exercising and prioritizing their health, which is fuelling the activewear market for on-trend performance items.

As retailers evolve activewear to the next level, we reveal that it doesn't always involve gym fitness, but rather mindful practices.

Activewear grabs a healthy slice of zen

Fitness is no longer only about lifting the heaviest weight in the gym or reaching your fastest time. With many of us checking in and making time for self-care with activities such as yoga, our attitude to health and fitness now has a focus on the process over product.

Looking at how the activewear market has changed over the last three years, we've analysed how traditional sports brands have grown their assortment.

Some of the retailers we analyzed were: Sportsdirect, Lululemon, JCPenney, Nike, ASICs, Puma, Sweaty Betty, New Balance, Reebok

The number of yoga products in stock in 2018 has increased by 35.8% compared to 2016.

In 2018, new in 'yoga leggings' skyrocketed by 87% compared to 2017. What was once a simple stretchy legging, it seems, has become a wardrobe phenomenon. Not too surprising, when you realize that about $48 billion is being spent on activewear in the U.S. every year, proving that retailers are syncing up with our wellbeing needs.

Namaste.

Pricing in the traditional sports market, despite some fluctuations, has generally maintained a consistent level. Leggings price point moved the most having decreased by $20 from Q1 '16.

Non-traditional sports retailers are getting in on the game and launching their own activewear collections at a more accessible price point for consumers.

Traditional activewear retailers are having to compete to maintain their valuable relationship with customers. So now's the time where retailers need to harness the power of data. And better still, understand when to buy-in or buy-out of trends. Loyalty programs for athleisure can provide essential information about the customer's daily life, favorite garments or offline activity. It also enables you to continue engaging them after the first transaction.

What's in right now?

In the US, grey and whites are the most favored color for new activewear products, holding almost 23% of the colour palette. High rise leggings are the most popular style for replenishments - not surprising seeing they are a flattering design that suits all body types.

The trend continues in the UK, with monochrome colours making up 56.8% of the color palette. Looking at pattern trends we can see that graphics and stripes dominate the UK and the US. Making up 50% of patterns across the product assortment.

Collaborations

In the past few months, we've seen new celebrities partnering up with activewear brands.

Former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland is the latest celebrity to co-design a collection for Kate Hudson's activewear brand, Fabletics. It launched on 1st January, in time for those New Year resolutions.

And rapper Cardi B signed a deal with Reebok. The artist is planned to promote silhouettes from Reebok's nineties apparel, which is a throwback to the strong nostalgia trend we've seen in the past year.

Lastly, Nike paired up with LA-based designer Eli Russel Linnetz for a capsule collection titled ERL. Inspired by 90's Pixar films featuring graphics by artist Jordan Wolfson, the lineup consists of pastel and neon colored essentials.

This year, we expect more nostalgic references, a loosening of silhouette on workout layers and fully relaxed aesthetics.

Want to know more about how EDITED can help your business?
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The transformation of activewear for 2019 - EDITED

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More consumers are exercising and prioritizing their health, which is fuelling the activewear market for on-trend performance items. As retailers evolve activewear to the next level, we reveal that it doesn't always involve gym fitness, but rather mindful practices. Fitness is no longer only about lifting the heaviest weight in the gym or reaching your fastest time.

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Modest Active-wear options for Muslim women.

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Modest Active-wear options for Muslim women.

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Modest Sportswear Options For The Muslim Woman - Bahath | Islamic Online Magazine

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The announcement was hailed as a step forward in the perceptions of Muslim women and with the largest sporting goods company outwardly supporting the hijab it's hoped the 'Nike hijab' would open the door for greater participation by Muslimah's in sports.

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How to Capture the Modest Fashion Market

Recently modest women have gotten significant attention: Articles in the New York Times, Vogue and others writing about Muslim women and Orthodox Jews who have fabulous style while adhering to their standards of modesty. As someone who is a modest dresser and who has been catering to the modest consumer, the attention produces mixed feelings. Mainly because results of this awareness yielded only small, limited-time collections for Muslims in the Middle East. Like this most recent Ramadan 2016 collection from Mango scheduled to be released on May 30th. It seems that the attention had no real depth. The collections do not properly address Muslim consumers and there has been no acknowledgment of the large global and diverse modest market. Thus, even with all the buzz, the majority of modest consumers are still left with little off-the-rack contemporary modest options.

From an outsider's perspective, the modest women may be an unfamiliar consumer. However, they want what every woman wants: to look and feel beautiful. She simply demands that her clothing have more coverage. It is akin to a plus size or petite customer, who does not want a different collection of plus size and petite clothing they want the same styles made to their needs. Similarly, modest women want the same styles in longer lengths and higher necklines.

Modest women want the same thing all women want: to look and feel beautiful. They want the same mainstream styles with more coverage.

The reason the fashion industry hasn't been able to serve modest women (or plus size and petite women) adequately is simple: they have a severe crush on only one customer type. Everyone from legacy brands, new fashion startups, and department stores are fighting for the dollar of the same segment of the population: the cool, thin, young, middle class, city girl presumably willing to wear anything. This has left those who don't fit that category - the vast majority of women - to fend for themselves.

The fashion industry has a severe crush on only one customer type: the cool, thin, young, middle class, city girl.

In recent years, the ease of starting an internet business has given rise to emerging designers who build brands that address women's needs. Marketplaces like Etsy, and others have made it possible to get clothing that closely aligns with a customer's needs, and in some cases, is custom made. This increase in emerging brands is being felt by name brands and retailers. Now, women who have been neglected by the fashion establishment are turning to these alternatives to find clothing that is designed for them. In the case of the modest consumer, name brands have been losing customers that only begrudgingly shopped their racks (mostly on sale, since they were never willing to pay full price for clothing that didn't meet their needs).

What's interesting is that name brands don't understand why they are losing ground. They cite generic reasons such 'lack of newness' and people no long buying apparel. However, they are not digging deep enough. For one, the young thin cool girl is a small population with an overabundance of options. More importantly, the root cause is that their business model excludes the most important component of any business: the customer. Brands don't meaningfully engage with women they want to serve. They don't consult them on designs, ask for feedback or decipher the reasons as to why one product sells out and another languishes on the racks. For this reason, brands are losing customers to emerging designers who talk to, understand, and often, are part of a particular customer group. These emerging designers are creating clothing that meet women's needs because they've asked and listened to them.

Consumer engaged brands like, Wildfang which caters to tomboys, and Elizabeth & Clarke which makes affordable workwear, can compete by listening to and addressing a need. In the case of Wildfang it fills a style gap of men's inspired women's wear. While, Elizabeth & Clarke addresses the need for timeless unstainable work wear. These consumer engaged brands have built a loyal customer base which allows them to compete with the fashion establishment. Fulfilling a gap is the only way a potential customer will risk a unknown online only brand that they cannot try on to check fit and quality first.

Addressing a real need is the only way potential customers will risk trying an unestablished online brand.

In the modest community there has been a tremendous rise of these online consumer engaged brands. It clearly shows that connection between women and the design process is the missing link for name brands. This is mostly because fashion historically has a stronger connection to art then it does to being a consumer product. Designers mistakenly believe they can dictate style from their corporate offices. Traditionally, design teams would put together collections based on color, trends, and silhouettes that the fashion establishment had decided was in. These styles would be pushed out onto the masses though aspirational images of models and celebrities on TV and print. Regardless of what women truly felt about the fashions, they bought them because they were 'in', their friends were wearing them, and most importantly, there were little alternatives.

The fashion establishment has put too much emphasis on art and not enough on it's role as a consumer good which must address consumer needs.

That approach no longer works, before the internet it was cumbersome to find alternative styles, so many modest women settled - using tailors and layers to make what was available work. Name brands may not have realized it, but their sales in those days were largely driven by convenience and lack of alternatives rather than a love for the offering. Now that there are more convenient alternatives, name brands can no longer rely on celebrity endorsements, aspirational value, trend setting, and discounts to drive sales. Everywhere, brands and retailers are feeling the decrease in sales and a new marketing strategy is not the solution. Modest consumers are no longer passively accepting these offerings, modest consumers are seeking out clothing that meets their needs.

Brands rely on setting trends and aspirational messaging to drive sales. They never truly engage customers.

What about fast fashion retailers, they seem to be flourishing? They are doing better than name brands, but it's because they've chosen to play a different game. The single most important driver of Zara, H&M and Forever21's sales is the speed of their inventory turnover. When a modest consumer sees something she remotely believes can work for her, she is driven to buy it because if she waits, she may never be able to find it again. The pricing makes it nearly irresistible, reducing the friction and closing the sale. Still, when we talk to modest women, we find that they are not buying the item because it meets their needs or because they love it.

Fast fashion doesn't have time to consider customer needs, they produce items so quickly and cheaply that the fear-of-missing-out drives sales.

Neither name brands or fast fashion truly engages with customers. They each use their own gimmick to drive sales. Brands use aspirational lifestyle and status as motivators while fast fashion relies on speed and low prices to provoke a fear of missing out. Both approaches fail to meaningfully address customer needs, which has left room for modest consumer engaged brands to enter. It's only a matter of time before these modest consumer engaged brands gain in status and increase their capacity to have larger selections at a faster rate. When that happens they will have established customer trust, status, and fast production capacity which will allow them to capture significant marketshare from incumbents. By that time it may be too late for incumbents to recover.

Today more and more consumer engaged brands are emerging that meaningfully understand and listen to their customers; providing options that solve real needs.

Thus the path forward to win the modest market is clear: talk to and listen to modest women. Name brands have the most to gain from this approach as they have been hit hardest by the loss of dissatisfied customers. Their status, quality, and aspirational value provide many intangibles that modest women still desire. In our interviews we've found that modest women would be willing to pay a premium for those intangibles, provided name brands produced clothing that truly took their lifestyle and needs into consideration.

To that end, the following is a brief breakdown as to what the modest consumer is looking for. (For a fuller report you can request the white paper.) Starting with this, name brands can begin to address modest consumers' needs to win them back from fast fashion and emerging designers. And they should be very interested in doing so since the global market for modest fashion is estimated at several hundred billion. To reach and serve this market, brands need to know and understand three things:

1. What modesty means

2. Who are modest women

3. What the modest consumer is looking for

What does modesty mean?

Modesty is extremely personal and comprises many factors such that one universal definition of modest clothing does not exist. However, for fashion brands, the modest consumer can be segmented into general groups with clear guidelines. At a minimum, clothing that is modest does not show cleavage, has sleeves and comes to the knee. Many communities and religions prefer more coverage than that. Below are the three main levels of coverage modest women fall into low, medium and high.

Who are modest women?

Throughout the world women choose to dress modestly for professional, personal and religious reasons. Many women who work in corporate offices or male dominated fields, may prefer to present a more conservative work appearance. For other women, they have personal reasons like skin conditions, sun protection or their view of their status in their community or family. Finally, women of any of the world's major faiths may adhere to their religion's standard of modesty. Whatever the reason, these women shop with neckline and hem lengths as top priorities and evaluate clothing according to that criteria. Currently, the modest market has been most strongly equated with the Muslim market, which alone is estimated to spend $484 billion on clothing by 2019. Once you add in the modest consumers in the different segments outlined here that market is even larger.

What do modest women want?

It's quite simple, modest women want brands to offer them their same styles with more coverage.

What does that look like:

Your brand's aesthetic, the same or similar items from your current collections with more coverage.

Collections displayed on models and in a way that resonates with modest consumers.

Easily available to customers all over the world.

Similar price points to your current lines.

It does not look like:

Limited time only collections, i.e. only for Ramadan.

Geographically confined collections, i.e. sold only in the Middle East.

Ethnic styles.

For the modest consumer who has been left out of mainstream fashion, a brand that takes steps to meaningfully engage her will be met with interest, excitement, and most importantly- sales.

Zahra is a modest dresser and the co-founder of Mode-sty the first multi brand e-commerce to cater to modest women. If you want to know more about the modest fashion market email stylist@mode-sty.com for the comprehensive white paper on the topic .

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How to Capture the Modest Fashion Market

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Recently modest women have gotten significant attention: Articles in the New York Times, Vogue and others writing about Muslim women and Orthodox Jews who have fabulous style while adhering to their standards of modesty. As someone who is a modest dresser and who has been catering to the modest consumer, the attention produces mixed feelings.

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Women's Health- Top active wear trends of 2019

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Women's Health- Top active wear trends of 2019

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Photography by Tane Coffin | Styling by Emma Kalfus

At WH we agree that there is no better motivation to hit the gym than new activewear. To ensure your look is on point and to keep up with the latest trends, we chatted to one of the WH Fashion Stylists, Emma Read, about what's hot in 2019.

1. Bike shorts

Revived from the depths of the 80s, bike shorts are back, and with good reason. This season's modernised, longer line styles are surprisingly flattering on the body, with a little more comfort than a booty short. We approve.

2. Moss green

Black is an eternal classic when it comes to activewear, but moss green is nipping at its heels. It's great on all skin tones and disguises any sweat marks (unlike black's other neutral counterparts grey and white).

3. Americana

Think vintage decals and track-inspired branding, emblazoned in red white and blue.

4. In bloom

Like your activewear more on the femme side? There's a floral for all this season, from dusty nudes and pinks to tropical greens and blues.

5. Chunky sneakers

Gone are the days of minimalism in footwear - the bigger the better this season, with super-size reigning supreme. Side note - the extra weight is super flattering on slimming down your legs, too.

Lottie Dalziel
Lottie Dalziel, is a 4AM riser and coffee-addict who lives and breathes the WH brand. When she isn't reading up on the latest health studies or stalking the fittest celebs on Insta, you can find her by the beach, cooking up a storm or adding to her abundant (some would say out of control) plant collection.

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At WH we agree that there is no better motivation to hit the gym then new activewear. To ensure your look is on point and to keep up with the latest trends we chatted to one of the WH Fashion Stylists, Emma Read, on what's hot in 2019.

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by Faiza Saqib in Fashion on 31st July, 2018

Zara's most recent summer campaign features many great styles, that show a sense of luxury for the summer and coming seasons must haves - shot by Steven Meisel and filmed by Fabien Baron. This campaign was released by Zara earlier this week- focusing heavily on the modesty aspect of the campaign.

Every model is gracefully shot with a head-wrap, matching every outfit with a piece of accessory that stands out. Although it may not be stated by Zara, by first look- the campaign screams 'Modesty', so it's something we got to talk about. Here are the top two looks that caught my eye for the campaign.

Look 1

Blesnya

Wears printed velvet three-piece suit with leather bow blouse.

Look 2

FEI FEI

Wears leopard print jumpsuit with a draped overcoat.

Now, this look caught my eye for many reasons, the tones and textures of the clothing is what stand out and fits in perfectly. When it comes to printed clothing- it's always best to mix it up with something that adds a touch of elegance and classical flow to it. The long overcoat rests on the model with ease as it somewhat tones down the bold prints. Again this outfit is matched with a statement belt, bag and rough leather boots. All in all, putting the outfit together with a killer boss vibe. Want the edgy and trendy look? Then this would be perfect.

We all love a bit of fashion drama in our lives, well this new Zara campaign is just that reminding us fashion lovers to be modestly bold and live on the edge.

Check out the collection that will be coming soon on Zara.co.uk

Take a look at the campaign here.

Faiza is a storyteller, and journalist from Afghanistan. She is an author who recently published her book "unspoken the voice beyond," A collection of poems that explore through the elements of human life. Through the battles of war and peace, we face within. You may follow her on Instagram @simplyf.s

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Zara's New Campaign Gives a Nod to Modest Fashion | Amaliah

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Zara's most recent summer campaign features many great styles, that show a sense of luxury for the summer and coming seasons must haves - shot by Steven Meisel and filmed by Fabien Baron. This campaign was released by Zara earlier this week- focusing heavily on the modesty aspect of the campaign.

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How marketing the Muslim women has become the new corporate trend.

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How marketing the Muslim women has become the new corporate trend.

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Nike released its first sports hijab last December, heralded with sleek, black-and-white photographs of accomplished Muslim athletes wearing the Pro Hijab emblazoned with the iconic swoosh. The same month, TSA pulled 14 women who wear hijab out of a security check line at Newark Airport; they were then patted down, searched, and detained for two hours.

From February to March, Gucci, Versace, and other luxury brands at autumn/winter fashion week dressed mostly white models in hijab-like headscarves. Around that time, two women filed a civil rights lawsuit against New York City related to an incident in which the NYPD forced them to remove their hijabs for mugshots.

Gap, a clothing brand known for its all-American ethos, featured a young girl in a hijab smiling broadly in its back-to-school ads this past summer. Meanwhile, children were forced to leave a public pool in Delaware; they were told that their hijabs could clog the filtration system.

Muslim women and Muslim fashion currently have unprecedented visibility in American consumer culture. Yet women who cover are among the most visible targets for curtailed civil liberties, violence, and discrimination in the anti-Muslim climate intensified by Donald Trump's presidency.

By selling modest clothing or spotlighting a hijabi in an ad campaign, the U.S. clothing industry is beckoning Muslim women to be its latest consumer niche. In order to tap into the multibillion-dollar potential of the U.S. Muslim consumer market, large retailers have positioned themselves as socially conscious havens for Muslims, operating on a profit motive rather than a moral imperative.

Many Muslim women, especially those who grew up post-9/11, may find inclusion as consumers to be a reprieve from everyday Islamophobia. However, the representations circulated by retail companies are reductive of Muslim-American identity. Certain Muslim women who conform to expectations of patriotism and consumption are granted visibility, while others, like black Muslim women, are erased from the narrative of Islam in America. Meanwhile, Muslims whose labor is exploited overseas are disappeared from corporate conscience.

The Muslim Consumer Market

In February, Macy's became the first U.S. department store to sell a modest clothing line, called the Verona Collection. Macy's was widely praised as " inclusive" and " taking diversity very seriously." Refinery29 raved, "It's great to see Macy's really taking the steps to champion the causes it says it believes in."

Macy's debuted the Verona Collection shortly after the retailer announced that several stores would close in 2018 (more than 120 stores have shuttered since 2015). A week before the launch, Macy's stock hit its lowest point of 2018. But soon after the announcement, things seemed to be looking up for the flailing company. A business analyst said, "At this time for investors the new clothing line should be treated with cautious excitement for what it may mean for the company moving forward."

Macy's financial instability when starting to sell hijabs and modest clothing calls into question the motive behind suddenly catering to Muslim consumers. Why now?

"It feels like a way of generating publicity by putting out an inclusive image, trying to make themselves seem more relevant," Sylvia Chan-Malik, author of " Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam," told The Intercept. "But perhaps that's cynical, because I know a lot of Muslim women who were very happy about it. I just don't know what the intentions are."

In addition to Nike, Gap, and high-end designers, there are several recent examples of the U.S. retail and fashion industry courting Muslim women who dress modestly. In 2016, New York Fashion Week presented its first all-hijab runway show from Indonesian designer Anniesa Hasibuan. That November, CoverGirl brought on hijabi beauty blogger Nura Afia as its latest brand ambassador. This past May, H&M released a modest clothing line leading up to Ramadan.

Since the early 2010s, multinational Western companies have catered to Muslim consumers after marketing consultants identified them as an influential demographic with growing spending power. According to the latest Thomson Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy Report, Muslims worldwide spent about $254 billion on clothing in 2016, which was predicted to increase to $373 billion by 2022.

Western retailers have mostly concentrated their Muslim outreach to foreign consumers. Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, and DKNY are among the brands that have sold Ramadan capsule collections or stocked modest clothing exclusively in their Middle East outlets. This past summer, MAC Cosmetics put out a glamorous makeup tutorial for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan, targeted at women in the Gulf region.

Consumer research on the U.S. market revealed a similar opportunity for profit. In 2013, Ogilvy Noor, the "Islamic branding" division of advertising company Ogilvy, estimated American Muslim spending power to be at $170 billion. DinarStandard and the American Muslim Consumer Consortium reported that Muslim-Americans spent $5.4 billion on apparel that same year.

Ogilvy Noor has determined that Muslim millennials are driving consumption with their collective belief that "faith and modernity go hand in hand."

"If I was to pick one person who represents the cutting edge of Muslim futurists, it would be a woman: educated, tech-savvy, worldly, intent on defining her own future, brand loyal and conscious that her consumption says something important about who she is and how she chooses to live her life," explained Shelina Janmohamed, vice president of Ogilvy Noor, who is Muslim. "The consumers these brands are targeting are young, cool and ready to spend their money."

Ogilvy Noor's approach inches toward essentializing who young Muslims are, which can then be monetized by corporations. The staggering economic power of the Muslim market is the determining factor in retail efforts to tap into it - less so a response to what Muslims could actually benefit from. But for many young Muslim women, consumer visibility can signal mainstream recognition and belonging, regardless of corporate intention.

"Maybe I'll Feel More Safe"

While retailers are ultimately incentivized by profit, clothing and cosmetics brands are also providing more options for women who choose to cover, as well as fulfilling some hijabis' desires for representation, said Elizabeth Bucar, author of " Pious Fashion: How Muslim Women Dress."

"Muslims are a large part of the American population today - they're visible," Bucar, an associate professor at Northeastern University, told The Intercept. "They're running for office, they're our co-workers, they're our neighbors, and, from a retail point of view, they are also consumers."

Many Muslim women celebrate, and actively participate in, efforts to acknowledge them as consumers. Muslim beauty and fashion bloggers on Instagram and YouTube promote brands to hundreds of thousands of followers. Verona Collection designer Lisa Vogl and model Mariah Idrissi are among those who have found commercial success in collaboration with large brands.

In September, the de Young Museum in San Francisco opened the first major museum exhibition on contemporary Muslim fashions, signaling that Muslim women's clothing is a legitimate topic of interest in the U.S. "We wanted to share what we've been seeing in Muslim fashion with the larger world in a way that could create a deeper understanding," the de Young's former director, Max Hollein, told the New York Times.

Consumer visibility can also signal a step toward the inclusion of Muslims as American in politically hostile times, particularly for the generation who grew up during the war on terror, when most representations have cast Muslims as foreign terrorists and a threat to national security.

"It's incredibly validating on an individual level to Muslim women who wear the scarf, who have to struggle with the comments and the vitriol and the violence that they encounter every day," said Chan-Malik, an associate professor at Rutgers University. "It's almost a very practical sense of relief, like, 'Oh, if this becomes more normalized, maybe I'll feel more safe.'"

That increased representation is meaningful to some Muslim women cannot be ignored. However, who gets to be seen and how exposes the underlying logics of capitalism that flatten visibility into which Muslim women are the most marketable.

The "Hijab Fetish"

The market homogenizes Muslim women, collapsing tremendous diversity into a product that can be easily digested. "Certain kinds of representation and visibility are privileged, while others are rendered undesirable," write Duke University associate professor Ellen McLarney and University of North Carolina associate professor Banu Gökariksel. "Muslim identities unpalatable to the sensibilities of the market are excluded, often leading to further marginalizations at the intersections of class, race, and ethnicity."

This is evident in how the fashion and beauty industries grant visibility to certain Muslim women. Writing about the " hijab fetish " in consumer culture, Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik described how representations of Muslim women in advertising conform to "an image of an over-filtered, hot, bourgeois, fair-skinned hijabi woman, whose highlight is 'on fleek'."

In fact, most Muslim women in the U.S. do not always wear a headscarf in public; one-fifth of American Muslims are black; almost half of Muslim-Americans reported incomes under $30,000 last year; and many American Muslims identify as queer, transgender, and gender nonconforming.

Despite the fact that black Muslim women are largely absent from mainstream consumer culture, said Kayla Wheeler, an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University, the women of the Nation of Islam and the Moorish Science Temple laid the foundation for Muslim fashion in the U.S decades ago.

"The Nation of Islam tried to use clothing to give black women a new respectable identity that they had been denied by white supremacy, so they could ... push back against stereotypes of black women as promiscuous or asexual or not real women or humans at all," said Wheeler, who researches black Muslim women's fashion.

Somali-American model Halima Aden and Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, along with designers Nzinga Knight, Eman Idil, and Lubna Muhammad, are among the few black Muslim women who have been given visibility in the fashion industry.

Black Muslim women are triply vulnerable in the U.S. to racist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic attacks.

Wheeler said that black Muslim women's headscarves can be racially distinctive in wrapping styles and fabrics - nuances that are obscured among the commercial images of predominantly Middle Eastern and South Asian women. Meanwhile, black Muslim women are triply vulnerable in the U.S. to racist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic attacks (last month, a white man pulled a gun on a group of black Muslim teenagers, including headscarf-wearing girls, at a McDonald's in Minnesota).

"Black Muslims are not seen as sympathetically as brown Muslims," Wheeler told The Intercept. "Everyone faces Islamophobia, but when you add anti-blackness and suspicions about black Islam not being real Islam, they become not only a foreign threat, but a domestic threat."

Corporate posturing to marginalized groups - what University of Denver law professor Nancy Leong describes as racial capitalism - has long been a business practice to persuade minority groups to become brand loyal and liberal consumers to buy products as a political statement.

In January, L'Oréal Paris announced its "unique and disruptive" hair care ad campaign, featuring model and social media influencer Amena Khan. In the ad, she wore a pale pink hijab, with a pink blazer, in front of a pink background. Within a week, Khan left the campaign after her tweets criticizing Israel for its attack on Gaza in 2014 were surfaced. In a statement, L'Oréal Paris agreed with her decision to step down, saying that the company is "committed to tolerance and respect towards all people."

Brands "want the face, but they don't want the complex politics or the identity or the voice behind it," Hoda Katebi, a political fashion blogger and community organizer, told The Intercept, pointing to her own experiences with brands that have approached her to collaborate or model their clothing. "Once a Muslim woman asserts her agency, they'll strip that away."

The fetishization of the hijab descends from decades of stereotypical images that have been used to fortify imperial projects in the Middle East and Islamophobic policies and attitudes at home. U.S. meddling in Muslim-majority countries and the war on terror have been the political backdrops against which retailers and advertisers have commodified Muslim women and their clothing.

The Veil and U.S. Empire

The representation of Muslim women and the veil in U.S. consumer culture has historically shifted alongside the agenda of U.S. empire. The veil, which encompasses myriad forms of head covering, has been attributed multiple, often contradictory, meanings: empowering, oppressive, threatening, fashionable, subversive.

For decades, the myth of imperial benevolence has informed U.S. foreign policy, alongside feigned concern about Muslim women and their material conditions, which has advanced agendas that benefit the political and economic elite.

The veil became fetishized in the U.S. during the Iranian women's movement after the 1979 revolution, Chan-Malik told The Intercept. Women mobilized for a week of protests after Ayatollah Khomeini, who replaced the U.S.-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi, established compulsory veiling, rather than allowing women to choose whether to cover.

The U.S. media focused on the chador as the symbol of oppression that the "poor Muslim woman" was forced to suffer under the ayatollah's rule, Chan-Malik writes in her book. "Women's rights became a rallying call that could be employed by the United States to explain the ills of the Middle East and the 'terror' of Islam."

The images produced and circulated during this time established an American Orientalism that continues to inform ideas about Muslim women as oppressed and in need of a U.S. savior.

In her book " The Veil Unveiled: The Hijab in Modern Culture," University of Texas at Austin professor Faegheh Shirazi lists pre-9/11 marketing strategies based on Orientalist stereotypes, which were used to sell cars, computers, perfume, and even soup: "the mysterious woman hiding behind her veil, waiting to be conquered by an American man; the submissive woman, forced to hide behind the veil; and the generic veiled woman, representing all peoples and cultures of the Middle East."

In the wake of 9/11, the burqa became the most visible symbol of the Afghanistan War, weaponized to serve the Bush administration's imperial agenda. In her infamous radio address, first lady Laura Bush claimed that the Taliban would "threaten to pull out women's fingernails for wearing nail polish," a harrowing detail suggesting that even beauty products were subject to tyrannical policing. The unveiling of Afghan women would come to represent their "freedom," as well as their transformation into consumers.

After the Taliban fell, the U.S. beauty industry acted as an arm of empire and seized the opportunity to export Western products and techniques to Afghanistan. Marie Claire and Vogue magazines, joined by beauty companies like Paul Mitchell and Estée Lauder, funded the humanitarian-inflected " Beauty Without Borders," a beauty school in Kabul meant to teach women how to perform salon services, despite the fact that salons had already existed. American shampoo and makeup became tools to liberate Muslim women.

By the early 2010s, the veil was still viewed with suspicion when worn by Muslim women, but had otherwise become an edgy, often sexualized, commodity. "Burqa chic" in fashion magazines and runway shows played upon the veil's shock value, McLarney writes. Jeans brand Diesel released an ad in 2013 featuring a topless, tattooed white woman wearing a niqab, and non-Muslim celebrities, including Rihanna, Madonna, and Lady Gaga, toyed with wearing veils as if they were costumes. Capitalist manipulation, McLarney writes, had transformed the veil "from emblem of utter dehumanization to expression of fashion, protest, and even personal freedom."

Muslim women's clothing has acquired new significance under the Trump administration, which tacitly endorses the exclusion, hatred, and criminalization of Muslims. Trump's call for a Muslim registry and a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" on the campaign trail, which manifested as the de facto Muslim travel ban, set the tone for his approach to U.S. Muslims.

In response, liberals have turned the Muslim woman into a feminist icon. The stylized image of a woman wearing an American flag as a hijab, created by street artist Shepard Fairey, hovered above crowds at the Women's March as a symbol of multicultural inclusion and political resistance. However, as many have pointed out, the image distorts the history of state violence and injustice against Muslims in the U.S. and abroad - and the American feminist movement's complicity in that. The poster's conspicuous presence at anti-Trump demonstrations also invoked how Muslim-Americans are rendered visible in ways that can be harmful to the community.

The Politics of Visibility

The selective visibility of hijabis reinforces a false binary between "good" and "bad" Muslims, upholding liberal, flag-waving Muslims as tolerable and benign without rectifying deeply entrenched perceptions of Muslims as terroristic and fanatical. While most Americans do not personally know a Muslim, Pew Research Center reported that Muslims are regarded with the most negativity among religious groups. A recent study also found that terror attacks with an alleged Muslim suspect receive 357 percent more media coverage.

"People love good, patriotic Muslims who don't threaten whiteness, who don't challenge the historical and systematic violence that this country is built upon," said Aqdas Aftab, who wrote about the hijab and capitalism as a fellow for Bitch Media.

As Muslim women are increasingly embraced in consumer culture, Nazia Kazi, author of the book " Islamophobia, Race, and Global Politics," said that Muslim men are still regarded as "sexually frustrated, violent, inherently patriarchal figures" - stereotypes that materialize in the ongoing criminalization of Muslim men.

Muslims in the U.S. have been monitored via state-sponsored policing and surveillance, Kazi writes in her book, as well as through "everyday curiosity, concern, and watchfulness." When it comes to Muslim women, she writes, observation turns into "voyeuristic fascination."

"Muslim women, specifically those who wear hijab, are a unique source of curiosity and sympathy and bigotry and Islamophobic assumption," Kazi, an assistant professor at Stockton University, told The Intercept.

That bigotry has increased in the Trump era, when flagrant Islamophobic rhetoric and policies have coincided with a reported increase in discrimination and abuse against Muslims. The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported a 17 percent increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents from 2016 to 2017, a trend that continued into 2018. This year alone, there have been numerous reports of hijabis being harassed, verbally abused, pushed in the subway, and assaulted by having their hijabs pulled off.

Kazi called the approach that retail companies have largely taken to address Islamophobia "leveraging hypervisibility," or harnessing the heightened scrutiny of Muslims to highlight the most exemplary. That has the effect of rendering invisible "just how devastating Islamophobia is for the most marginalized among Muslim women around the world," she said.

The clothing industry, for example, magnifies visibility of certain Muslim women, while hiding others from public view - those whose labor is exploited in garment factories overseas.

The global production of fast fashion depends on sweatshop labor to bring the latest runway trends to clothing racks. Gap and H&M use factories in Muslim-majority countries that have been accused of gender-based violence and labor abuses. Nike, notorious for its decadeslong dependence on sweatshop labor, also uses factories in predominantly Muslim countries.

"Who will hold them accountable for underpaying, overworking, and harassing their vulnerable employees when the same companies are being lauded for being inclusive and liberal?" Aftab said.

Muslims who applaud the commercialization of the hijab should be cognizant of the exploitation of Muslim garment workers, as well as how large corporations are taking away from small, Muslim-owned businesses, said Katebi, who organizes a sewing cooperative for refugee women in Chicago. That includes companies like Haute Hijab and Sukoon Active, which have been making modest clothing and activewear for years.

Increasing Muslim representation is not just an ineffective strategy for fighting Islamophobia, but a dangerous one, Kazi said, as it misunderstands Islamophobia as an individual bias, rather than a structural apparatus.

"The hypervisibility of Muslims is undeniably linked to the political climate," she said. "So while the public is casting this gaze over Muslims in the U.S., what falls out of the conversation are political histories, regional inequality, the histories of white supremacy and race."

Muslim women are at the forefront of pushing such issues into mainstream political discourse, particularly in electoral politics and grassroots organizing. Michigan's Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota's Ilhan Omar, who next month will become the first Muslim women in Congress, ran on progressive platforms that included a $15 minimum wage, "Medicare for All," and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Katebi described her vision for systemic change: those who make art and those who do politics partnering with impacted communities to secure material gains. "Our liberation," she said, "is not going to come from multibillion-dollar, capitalist corporations headed by white people."

Freedom and justice, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike, will be won at the polls and on the ground - not in the checkout aisle.

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Marketing the Muslim Woman: Hijabs and Modest Fashion Are the New Corporate Trend in the Trump Era

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Nike released its first sports hijab last December, heralded with sleek, black-and-white photographs of accomplished Muslim athletes wearing the Pro Hijab emblazoned with the iconic swoosh. The same month, TSA pulled 14 women who wear hijab out of a security check line at Newark Airport; they were then patted down, searched, and detained for two hours.

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Why brands are embracing modest fashion?

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Why brands are embracing modest fashion?

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Reina Lewis is professor of cultural studies at London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London) and a consulting curator of the de Young Museum's exhibition "Contemporary Muslim Fashions." The following is an edited excerpt of her essay "Muslims and Fashion Now, and Then," taken from a book accompanying the exhibition, also called " Contemporary Muslim Fashions."

For many years -- especially after the attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 -- the fashion industry was deeply averse to being publicly associated with Muslims, whether as designers, models, consumers or influencers. That Muslim clients from the newly rich petro-economies of the Gulf provided essential support to European couture houses from the middle of the last century was insider knowledge only.

But fast-forward to the second decade of the 21st century, and a connection to Muslims is seen as an asset.

Global fashion brands from luxury to high street have woken up to the Islamic calendar. Around the world, brands run fashion promotions for Ramadan and Eid -- the "new Christmas." In London, luxury retailers gear up for the "Harrods Hajj," a seasonal pre-Ramadan influx of affluent Gulf shoppers.

Sometimes, fashion brands create a capsule collection from their existing ranges (DKNY led with a Ramadan campaign in their Gulf stores in 2014, for instance). And a specialist fashion-industry infrastructure has also grown globally -- now Muslim designers of modest wear have opportunities to show their work at the proliferating number of modest fashion weeks and fairs around the world.

In the mainstream luxury sector, online portal Net-a-Porter forged ahead with an Eid edit in 2015. Last year, new Dubai-based modest e-retailer The Modist showed sufficient confidence in a Muslim market to persuade high-end designers, such as London-based Mary Katrantzou, to produce exclusive modest designs.

Fashion imagery has changed, too. A decade ago, some modest clothing brands and magazines avoided showing faces -- or the human form at all -- in deference to some interpretations of Islamic teaching. Now, Muslim models who wear the headscarf, or hijab, are starring in ad campaigns and on the catwalk -- from the viral H&M video featuring hijab-wearing Londoner Mariah Idrissi, to Somali American Halima Aden, who has walked for Max Mara and Kanye West's Yeezy.

Drive for diversity

But visible religious diversity isn't happening in a vacuum. It is part of the industry's belated wake-up to its lack of ethnic and racial diversity, as well as to body size and to gender and sexual identities. Now, religion is being melded into the mix.

Take cosmetics company CoverGirl, for example, which once paved the way on racial and sexual diversity with brand ambassadors from Queen Latifah to Ellen DeGeneres. It is a sign of the times that, in January 2017, the company appointed American hijabi beauty blogger Nura Afia. Sephora, too, has showed hijabis in cosmetics marketing for its Fall 2017 campaign. Given that Islam is not an ethnicity, the diversity of the Muslim population offers a double win for brands seeking to make visible their commitment to all forms of social diversity.

More Muslims are finding ways to break into the fashion industry, but established names are also being more "out" about their Muslim heritage. Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid have associated themselves publicly with Islamic causes. Bella has openly identified herself as Muslim and spoken of their Palestinian father's encouragement that they should be proud of their dual heritage. Gigi, a "proud" Palestinian, has shared on social media her cultural participation in Muslim festivals such as Eid with her then-boyfriend, Zayn Malik.

The Hadid sisters have used their celebrity status and Muslim identity to speak out against the perceived anti-immigrant and anti-Islam rhetoric of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the legislative efforts to curb immigration and travel from Muslim-majority countries. In making themselves visible as Muslims, the Hadids -- whose personal styling and professional modeling assignments do not associate them with modest dressing -- immediately widened the perception of what a Muslim woman looks like.

'Think halal, act local'

As niche modest brands cross over into the mainstream and as mainstream fashion and lifestyle sectors target Muslim consumers, it will be harder to reconcile community with competition. To date, the sector has been notable for an etiquette of respect and of collaboration in supporting others to foster modest fashion and its related values.

With "home-grown" designers from within the Muslim community now facing competition from global brands -- whether Dolce & Gabbana's abayas or Nike's Pro Hijab -- the competition is more marked as the stakes have become higher. A global modest fashion infrastructure of competing modest fashion weeks, fairs, and expos has grown out of what were once low-key, community-run gatherings.

This growth has created new opportunities in the fashion industry for Muslims and for those who understand Muslim cultures. The upward-spiraling estimates of Muslim spending on fashion and on modest fashion don't come out of nowhere: The transition from avoiding Muslim consumers to wooing them has been fostered by professional marketers who have identified Muslims as a global consumer segment.

In early 2018, British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) decided to include "modest outfits" as an online search category and received quite a few negative responses. When M&S had started to sell burkinis two years before, the controversy was about the garment. This time, the garments -- selected from existing lines -- were not the problem: it was the terminology.

Lots of women commenters welcomed longer sleeves or higher necklines (as suitable for occupation or age). Less welcome was the inference that other forms of dress -- and the women who wear them -- are immodest. As some guessed, it was search engine optimization rather than religious ideology that drove the decision: M&S confirmed that "'modest fashion' is an increasingly popular search term."

Transitioning from marketing kiss of death to valuable commercial category through the jangle of cash registers, the language of modesty is now fully monetized. But if mainstream fashion brands continue to chase Muslim consumers, as the market matures brands will need to listen to marketing experts who advise them to learn to "think halal, act local."
"Contemporary Muslim Fashions," published by Prestel, is available now. An exhibition of the same name, curated by the author, is showing at the de Young Museum in San Francisco until Jan. 6, 2019.

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why mainstream brands are embracing modest fashion - cnn

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Why mainstream brands are embracing modest fashion

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Reina Lewis is professor of cultural studies at London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London) and a consulting curator of the de Young Museum's exhibition "Contemporary Muslim Fashions." The following is an edited excerpt of her essay "Muslims and Fashion Now, and Then," taken from a book accompanying the exhibition, also called " Contemporary Muslim Fashions."

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vogue- The Multi Billion-Dollar Modest Fashion Industry That's Gone Global.

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vogue- The Multi Billion-Dollar Modest Fashion Industry That's Gone Global.

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Cultural and religious reasons may have birthed covered-up fashion, but today the aesthetic has gone to a whole new stylish place, turning the heads of a young generation of cosmopolitan, social media-savvy consumers. *Vogue * investigates the multi-billion-dollar modest market.

Batsheva Hay was itching for a project. So, on her birthday two years ago, the Manhattan-based former lawyer decided that she'd gift herself a dress of her own design. "I was like, 'OK, if I can really customise, then let me just add a different type of sleeve and a different type of shoulder,'" she recalls of her creation, a vintage cotton dress that quickly morphed into an elaborate piece of whimsy. Buoyed by her success - it was, she notes, "cheaper than shopping at Barneys" - she made more. Soon, strangers were stopping her in the subway, curious about her old-fashioned frocks and the matching dresses she stitched for her daughter.
Read more: Introducing Layeur, The New Label That Celebrates Modern Modesty
One website, an edgy Instagram account and several orders from Japan later, her Orthodox-friendly label Batsheva now shows at New York Fashion Week and was recently stocked by global e-commerce retailer MatchesFashion.com. Batsheva's skyrocketing success signals the way in which modest fashion - once a niche market - has entered mainstream consciousness. No longer dismissed as the dowdy domain of religious folk, this multibillion-dollar industry is being driven by a young and cosmopolitan consumer who demands coverage in accordance with her faith but refuses to skimp on style. It's also been embraced by those who simply prefer an aesthetic that doesn't cater to the male gaze. Even Hollywood stars are dabbling - at the Venice Film Festival, Tilda Swinton wore Haider Ackermann on two occasions, each time sporting a long-sleeved, ankle-swishing silhouette with a ruffled neck that brushed her jawline.

"I know some people will think modest fashion is regressive and telling a woman to cover themselves, but I actually feel like the women it appeals to want to wear stuff that's fun and don't have to worry about being a sex object for a man," says Hay about her designs. As the movement has gained momentum, it's revealed the economic clout of those driving it. Hay's brand caters to a secondary tier of religious women - namely Orthodox Jews and Christians - as well as secular shoppers interested in pieces that can be appreciated for their style and craft. But it's a new generation of Muslim consumers that has emerged as the demographic heavyweights, their modest-fashion spend accounting for $44 billion of the $1.9 trillion global Muslim market.

"What's nice about this space is that you've got a loyal audience because they've committed to it for a higher reason," says Alia Khan, founder and chairwoman of the Dubai-based Islamic Fashion Design Council. "They're not doing it to impress anyone, so there's no passing fancy, there's no fad involved in this. They're first and foremost doing this because of their values and belief set, which are going to stay with them for life."

Hay's own journey from Jewish secularism to observance began when she started dating her now-husband, fashion photographer Alexei Hay, who had already embarked on his own foray into Orthodox Judaism. Together, they began to observe Shabbat and keep a kosher household, deftly straddling two worlds: New York's highly secular fashion scene and a new, spiritual realm of "super intense" Friday-night dinners with her husband's rabbi and his 14 children. Inspired by outfits she spies at religious weddings, Hay designs her collections with tzniut - the Hebrew word for modesty applied to Jewish women's rules of dress - in mind. The dresses might look better next to a 19th-century covered wagon, but they sport the high necklines, low hemlines and long sleeves required by Orthodox Judaism.
Read more: Meet Halima Aden, The First Hijabi Model On The Cover Of Vogue
"Honestly, I'm designing for myself," Hay says with a shrug, pointing out that a childhood diet of thrift-store finds and Laura Ashley bed sheets has translated into an ultra-feminine aesthetic that favours puffed shoulders, extravagantly ruffled collars, candy-coloured taffeta and loud floral prints. "The majority of it really is totally modest, but it doesn't freak me out if there are one or two things that aren't."

For Khan, this proliferation of new styling is proof of the industry's burgeoning innovation. She explains that Muslim women worldwide tend to follow the same Islamic principles of propriety - full sleeves, ankle length, no cleavage, no sheer fabrics - but it's their variance in interpretation and execution that proves exciting. An Iranian woman in Tehran might favour a loosely draped headscarf matched to her trousers and jacket; her counterparts in the Gulf often have a fondness for flowing abayas that fuse Western influences with Eastern style. Even within one country, such as Saudi Arabia, there can be regional variations in the style of abaya sported. Far from being a monolith demographic, the Muslim consumer is as diverse in her needs as any other consumer group. The success of brands rests on their ability to recognise and cater to that.

"What we're seeing now is that the boundaries are disappearing and there are no rules as long as the general expectation of modesty is met by the consumer's demand," Khan says. "The rest of it is really a great playground for these designers to come up with some fabulous, disruptive ideas."

In a study into the behavioural habits of modest fashion consumers, Romana Mirza, a senior researcher at the Islamic Fashion Design Council, found them to be "savvy" shoppers with established and thoughtful opinions on brands. "The modest fashion consumer shops luxury, mainstream and modest fashion brands to fulfill their demand in this space," she says. But despite their population size and spending power, they still feel desperately underserved by both bricks-and-mortar stores and online retailers. International brands, urges Mirza, must listen to this "insightful, articulate and attentive consumer" - after all, it's their needs that will continue to take the driving seat in shaping this market.

In recent years, Western brands have made tentative attempts to court them. Every season, high-street retailer Mango releases modest-friendly collections of tunics, kaftans and maxi-dresses, and late last year, Nike announced the release of a high-performance hijab. In April, Net-A-Porter promoted capsule collections designed specifically for Ramadan by brands including Oscar de la Renta and Jenny Packham; the website also includes 'modest' as a category within its clothing menu, filtering all womenswear that fits the bill aesthetically, regardless of whether it was designed expressly for the modest market. A shift towards inclusion can also be seen with the advent of hijabi supermodels like Ikram Abdi Omar, who walked the catwalk for Molly Goddard at London Fashion Week, and Somali-American model Halima Aden, whose runway shows have included Max Mara, Alberta Ferretti, and Kanye West's Yeezy label. This May, Aden made headlines as the first hijab-wearing supermodel to pose on the cover of British Vogue.

In 2017, Algerian financier Ghizlan Guenez decided to launch luxury e-commerce site The Modist after noticing the dearth of options for modest-minded women like herself. She was convinced of the business's viability - while considered a niche offering, The Modist's nondenominational approach means it appeals to women across different faiths, age groups, sizes and cultures. "It doesn't matter to us what the reason for dressing modestly is. All we care about is offering women fashion and functionality in an elevated experience," she says.

"Our woman is bold in her fashion choices and we love that because it smashes all stereotypes around modesty and it being dull and boring," continues Guenez, as she scrolls through the site's current curation of more than 180 brands, including avant-garde favourites such as Haider Ackermann. Guenez - who grew up surrounded by modestly dressed women - is particular about catering to their needs. Sleeve lengths and fabric opacity are all taken into consideration. Sometimes her team will work with designers to customise pieces specifically for the modest dresser, like an exclusive party-wear capsule collection by Petar Petrov that launches in November to correspond with the festive season.

"Ultimately, we want every woman globally who struggles with dressing modestly to see us as her go-to platform," she says.

Yet despite the recent publicity surrounding modest fashion, to claim it as a new trend would be to overlook the many women who have clothed themselves like this for millennia. "The truth of it is that modest fashion has been around since the beginning of time," says Khan, exasperated at the notion that covering up is anything new. And it's not that the number of modest dressers has increased so much as that we're finally noticing it. So what's changed? The intersection between a rapidly growing and remarkably youthful Muslim population of consumers (their global median age, in 2015, was 24) and social-media technology has enabled a wave of influencers, designers and consumers to broadcast their lifestyle to a like-minded audience.

"I think platforms like Instagram and Facebook have enabled a dialogue to take place among women who may not have had that chance in the past and it has enabled their voices to be heard," says Guenez. "A modest dresser in Indonesia is now able to connect with a modest dresser in New York and see how much they share in common in terms of their fashion and lifestyle choices, and with that comes a movement that started on these platforms and is translating to other aspects of life."

While social media has thrust modest fashion into the international limelight, the way these platforms are being utilised is often accompanied with a raised eyebrow. Susan Sabet, an influential Egyptian fashion magazine publisher and founder of Cairo's Fashion Nights (a seasonal city-wide shopping event), recently joined the executive committee of Fashion Trust Arabia, an annual prize initiative that will nurture regional design talent. Sabet has witnessed first-hand the powerful impact of social media for emerging designers: it gains them a fanbase which, in turn, convinces retailers to stock them. But as she points out, many in conservative Middle Eastern Islamic societies see an inherent contradiction between the religious symbolism of modest clothing and the propriety of influencers who model their outfits to a mass following. "The Koran states that [believers] should lower their gaze and be modest," she says. "When you have a lot of social media influencers who are basically posing on social media with millions of followers, and are not lowering their gaze, a lot of people see this as a bit controversial. This has people saying, 'Is this right? Is this really a modest person at the end of the day?'"

One such tastemaker is Ascia, a Kuwaiti-American Instagram star whose 2.4 million followers enjoy her propensity for streetwear-infused style, neatly wrapped turbans and shoulder-skimming statement earrings. She launched her account in 2012, frustrated by the lack of women who "looked like her" online. As Instagram ascended, so did her visibility. Now Ascia heads up an empire - including a Korean-inspired beauty line and a range of baby slings - that has been built on a willingness to share her deeply personal approach to blending fashion and faith. As such, she is highly attuned to the religious and cultural sensitivities that come with a public platform. Although Muslim, she is careful to avoid referring to herself as a hijabi in deference to the stricter dress codes observed by other women. Instead, she prefers to identify under the broader "modest space" umbrella.

"My brand has evolved with my transition and my own understandings of where I'm at with my relationship with God and where I'm at with my relationship with my dress sense and my own body," she explains. Some days, that means Ascia wakes up with a hankering for longer hemlines; other days she's comfortable in a pair of jeans and an oversized top. Her own varying approach to fashion mirrors the vast - and vastly overlooked - possibilities of modest dressing.

"For so many years, we've been written off," she says. "No one catered to our dress sense, no one thought about us as an entity." Slowly, with the increased presence of women like her in the media, she sees that attitude changing. "Just fit us in, make space at the table. That's really what we want."

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The Multi Billion-Dollar Modest Fashion Industry That's Gone Global

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Cultural and religious reasons may have birthed covered-up fashion, but today the aesthetic has gone to a whole new stylish place. [i]Vogue [/i] investigates the multi-billion-dollar modest market.

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How Modest Fashion Became a global Trend.

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How Modest Fashion Became a global Trend.

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It's no wonder modest fashion has been turning heads of late. An untapped global billion-dollar market combined with a host of social media influencers, has pushed styles into catwalks, catalogues and ad campaigns. As more major fashion brands get on board and it attracts more fashion-conscious women, the modest fashion industry looks set to only get bigger.

Modest fashion should compliment the diverse lifestyles of all types of women, no matter what their faith or culture

What then, is modest fashion? There are many definitions, but essentially it describes clothes that cover much of the body, without skimping on style. For modest fashionistas, it's not what you show, it's what you don't show and, crucially, the way in which you don't show it. The array of styles include dresses with high necklines and long sleeves, kimonos, head scarves, no-cleavage garments and looser fittings.

UK-based designer Saleha Bagas has been running her online modest fashion brand for the past five years. She says: "Everybody has their own version or level of modesty, but it attracts women who don't want to show flesh just because it's being advertised. Modest fashion gives the modern modest woman something she wants to wear, without her having to compromise on style."

Modest clothing: from high fashion to high street

While it maybe emerging in the West, the industry has been catering to Muslim women in places like the Gulf, Indonesia and Malaysia for years, and sales figures suggest an increasingly lucrative global market.

According to a 2018 report by DinarStandard and Reuters, Muslim consumers spent an estimated $270 billion on modest fashion in 2017, compared with $243 billion in 2015. Sales are expected to reach $361 billion by 2023.

Shifts are occurring across the industry. For the first time in its 102-year history, last year British Vogue put Somali-American model Halima Aden, its first woman wearing a hijab, on the cover. In 2017, modest fashion became the newest kid on the runway block with the first London Modest Fashion Week, where 40 designers from across the globe showcased their designs of turbans, hijabs, full-length dresses and burkinis.

Some of the biggest brands have also started to incorporate modest fashion into their collections, including DKNY and Mango, which have both launched Ramadan lines. H&M, Nike and Gap have also launched campaigns with models wearing a hijab, and the Net-a-Porter website features a modest fashion section.

How modest fashion entered the Western mainstream

Kulsum Patel, director and co-founder of Ayah, a UK modest fashion consultancy service, says: "One thing that will always attract interest from businesses, brands and then, in turn, consumers is when you see large figures like this attached to an industry. Small businesses have been doing this kind of work for years, but it's only now that big brands in the West are recognising there's this whole catchment of women they haven't tapped into yet. Now they are wanting a piece of the pie."

Much of the push has come from social media influencers including British-Egyptian Instagrammer and YouTuber Dina Torkia. The 29 year old has spoken about the challenges she faced trying to balance her faith with her fashion, and in 2011 started her fashion blog. She quickly grew in popularity and now has more than two million Instagram followers and YouTube subscribers combined. Her tutorial on 20 different ways to tie an hijab has been viewed 1.2 million times and late last year she released her debut book Modestly on being a modern Muslim Brit.

Ms Patel says: "What you're finding now is big brands like Amazon and John Lewis teaming up with these influencers to promote their products. These brands pay these influencers and then there's a whole campaign that dominates their social media posts. The brands know there is a following out there and this is the best way to attract the industry and the modest woman client."

Modest fashion not just for Muslim women

But, as designer Ms Bagas says, modest fashion doesn't just appeal to Muslim women. She says her designs - vintage gowns, long and baggy top-and-trouser sets and bridal wear - are popular with a range of women.

"My clients include Jewish, Arab women and non-Muslims," she says. "Modest fashion is not just for Muslim women, it's to complement the diverse lifestyles of all types of women, no matter their faith or culture, who want to implement modesty into their dress code."

And it's this wide appeal that's putting modest fashion in style for all seasons.

Ms Patel concludes: "Choices for the modest women have always been there, but it's never been created in a way where it is easily accessible for women in the West. It's great to see big brands being more inclusive, but I think it's going to take some time before they get the balance right. It is currently being identified with Islam, but the more attention it gets and the more mainstream it becomes, the more people will realise it's not an alien concept. All I see is this industry growing."

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Modest fashion goes global as brands jump on the bandwagon

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It's no wonder modest fashion has been turning heads of late. An untapped global billion-dollar market combined with a host of social media influencers, has pushed styles into catwalks, catalogues and ad campaigns. As more major fashion brands get on board and it attracts more fashion-conscious women, the modest fashion industry looks set to only get bigger.

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Meet Generation M: the young, affluent Muslims changing the world

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Burkinis, misery memoirs and people on camels: the caricatures of Islam don't leave much room for modernity. The author of a new book argues that this image is absurd - and that a new demographic is about to flex its economic muscles

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How young Muslims are driving the modest fashion revolution.

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How young Muslims are driving the modest fashion revolution.

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Generation M: how young Muslim women are driving a modest fashion revolution

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The first ever London modest fashion week brought hijabs, burkinis and kimonos to the catwalk this month. Now the British high street is finally beginning to cotton on

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Islamic sportswear gaining $151 bln market

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Islamic sportswear gaining $151 bln market

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Haroon Latif, Director, Strategic Insights, DinarStandard supported by Yasir Malik, Senior Analyst, DinarStandard

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Islamic modest sportswear gaining ground in a $151 bln market

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The global sportswear apparel market was estimated at $151 billion in 2015, with a projected 4 percent per annum growth till 2020. With a clear need for modest clothing among active Muslim women and the emergence of several key players globally including Nashata, Ahiida, and more recently, Sefamerve and Veil Hijab, what are the opportunities for new players in the global modest sportswear industry?

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State of the Global Islamic Economy Report.  

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State of the Global Islamic Economy Report.  

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state of the Blobal islamic Economy Report

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View and analyze results from the Modest Active Wear SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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Sports Apparel Industry Analysis - USD 50 Billion Growth by 2023 | Market Reports

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Sports apparel industry growth is attributed to increasing health awareness worldwide and continuing popularity of fitness activities. This industry analysis provides market share and market sizing insights for all segments including sports apparel garments, specialized sports apparel, athleisure, and more.

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An Australian politician has caused uproar by wearing a burka in Parliament. Pauline Hanson has been condemned for an "appalling" stunt in which she wore the burka as part of her push to ban it.

The controversial politician, who leads the One Nation party, was widely condemned after she attended the Senate chamber in a black Islamic body covering, prompting gasps of shock from fellow MPs. As she removed the covering, she said: "This is not what should belong in this Parliament."

She asked George Brandis, the attorney-general: "In light of the national security of this nation will you work to ban the burka in Australia?" Mr Brandis responded: "No."

Ms Hanson rose to notoriety during the Nineties, after she claimed that the country risked being swamped by Asian migrants. But she has since turned her attention to attacking the nation's Muslims. Following her appearance in a burka, she released a statement saying "this was a debate that was happening across the world and Australia could not hide from a difficult conversation out of fear of causing offence".

She later said she had considered wearing the burka into the chamber for months, saying it was "really horrible" and "uncomfortable".

"I just felt cut off from the rest of the world," she added .

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Burka bans: The countries where Muslim women can't wear veils

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An Australian politician has caused uproar by wearing a burka in Parliament. Pauline Hanson has been condemned for an "appalling" stunt in which she wore the burka as part of her push to ban it.

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Women being banned for wearing Bikinis in France. 

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Women being banned for wearing Bikinis in France. 

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Why are we asking this now?

What started as a temporary rule brought in by a single resort in France has spread along the country's world-famous Riviera and beyond to become a lightning rod for a multitude of divisive issues.

The imposition of local by-laws on swimwear may seem minor but the "burkini bans" have tapped into division over immigration, sexism, religion and extremism as the country continues to reel from a series of deadly terror attacks by Isis supporters.

The debate is seeing France's constitutional secularism pitted against freedom of religion, with emotions running high on both sides.

Proponents argue the move preserves "security and secularism", while critics have condemned it as a sexist attack on human rights and a valuable recruiting tool for Isis and other jihadist groups propagating the idea of a war on Muslims in the West.

Why has the ban been implemented?

The bans have been implemented individually by various cities and communes in France's coast, with each giving slightly different reasons.

The first city to announce the prohibition was Cannes, where mayor David Lisnard said he wanted to prohibit "beachwear ostentatiously showing a religious affiliation while France and places of religious significance are the target of terror attacks" to avoid "trouble to public order".

A by-law said anyone wearing swimwear deemed not to "respect good customs and secularism" would be barred from visiting the resort's beaches or swimming.

The second commune to announce a burkini ban, Villeneuve-Loubet, was not so direct with allusions to terror and extremism.

Its rule stipulates that only clothing that "is respectful to morality and secular principles, and in compliance with hygiene and safety rules" is allowed.

Mayor Lionnel Luca also cited unspecified "hygiene reasons" for banning full-body swimwear.

A tribunal in Nice that upheld the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet on Monday ruled that it was "necessary, appropriate and proportionate" to prevent public disorder.

None of the orders have directly mentioned burkinis - an all-encompassing term for modest swimwear that covers the body and hair - and some people have questioned whether police would enforce the ban for wetsuits, nuns' habits and other garments.

What's happened?

Dozens of women have been fined s o far for wearing clothing deemed violate the various bans, including in Cannes and Nice.

Some have been arrested, while others have been give verbal or written warnings, and many fined around €40 (£35) each.

How widespread is it?

Authorities in at least 15 towns and cities have so far brought in bans, with the most recent being Cagnes-sur-Mer in Provence.

It announced its degree on Tuesday evening, following several nearby areas.

Many more are said to be considering drawing up similar laws, although a wave of new prohibitions is considered less likely as the summer draws to a close.

But the news of burkini bans has spread around the world, gaining support from right-wing politicians.

Germany is separately considering a nationwide ban on full-face veils, which is already enforced in Belgium.

What are people saying about it?

Right-wing politicians have praised the ban, which comes as France continues its nationwide prohibition on full-face veils in public.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National, claimed the "soul of France is in question", writing in a blog: "France does not lock away a woman's body, France does not hide half of its population under the fallacious and hateful pretext that the other half fears it will be tempted."

But critics have compared the enforcement of the ban to repression in Saudi Arabia and Iran, arguing that ordering women what to wear is a violation of human rights in any context

Some have condemned attempted justifications by local authorities as mere "excuses" for sexist and Islamophobic discrimination.

The bans are widely perceived to be a response to increased tensions and public fears following the Nice attack, when an Isis supporter mowed down 86 people celebrating Bastille Day on 14 July, and the murder of a Catholic priest by Isis supporters.

Some rights groups have said the new laws amount to the "collective punishment" of Muslims following the terror attacks and amid friction over immigration and the refugee crisis.

France's Human Rights League said the burkini bans are "serious and illegal attack on numerous fundamental rights" and an abuse of France's secular principles.

Is there a backlash?

Yes. The hashtag #WTFFrance was trending on Wednesday as outrage spread around the world over photos of a Muslim being forced to remove her top by armed police on a beach in Nice.

There was widespread condemnation over the stark image of a kneeling woman taking off her top while surrounded by three male police officers, standing around her armed with guns and pepper spray.

Footage of several other incidents has provoked alarm, showing women being fined or ordered to get out of the sea, with some onlookers shouting racist or xenophobic abuse.

Some opponents have been calling for a "Burkini Day" or for flashmobs to take to France's beaches to protest the rules.

Meanwhile, terror analysts have warned that the dispute will fuel jihadist propaganda as groups like Isis attempt to portray France and other Western countries as at war with Muslims.

"If the aim of the terrorists who took so many innocent lives in Paris, Nice and elsewhere was to foment hatred and conflict, and to provoke the French state into an overreaction, then the French authorities have more than fulfilled their unsavoury ambitions," an Independent editorial said.

"Victimising and bullying Muslim women on holiday is not only bad PR, it is wrong in principle and entirely counterproductive."

What is the French government's position?

President Francois Hollande has so far avoided becoming embroiled in the dispute but the Prime Minister has shown no such concern.

Manuel Valls told the La Provence newspaper he was not in favour of a national law but condemned burkinis.

"The burkini is not a new range of swimwear, a fashion," he said. "It is the expression of a political project, a counter-society, based notably on the enslavement of women."

The vast majority of bans currently in place are due to come to an end at in September and it is unclear whether they will be renewed or replaced by new legislation.

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Why France is in uproar over the burkini - and why it matters

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Why are we asking this now? What started as a temporary rule brought in by a single resort in France has spread along the country's world-famous Riviera and beyond to become a lightning rod for a multitude of divisive issues.

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16 Global Modest Fashion Influencers You Need To Know

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Women who have nailed there personal sense of style, bookmark this page for fashion inspo

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Modest Wear and Apparel|Oola Sports Store

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Shop Oola Sports plain dresses online, discover the sportswear Productsfor everyday running, cycling, gym or any outdoor activities.

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Shop the new Hana Tajima collection at UNIQLO, including elegant dresses and outerwear perfect for the transitional season. Order now for fast UK delivery.

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Modest sportswear is our smart and stylish solution designed to allow a full range of movement while keeping you covered and comfortable. Made of soft, breathable fabrics, mix and match with our tops, trousers, and skirts, or try a sporty abaya to keep cool and carry on!

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Modest Activewear by SHUKR Islamic Clothing

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Modest sportswear is our smart and stylish solution designed to allow a full range of movement while keeping you covered and comfortable. Made of soft, breathable fabrics, mix and match with our tops, trousers, and skirts, or try a sporty abaya to keep cool and carry on!