A glamorous woman in a bejeweled headdress and abaya straddles a lawn manicured amid a dazzled crowd, Instagram influencers snap pictures of each other, and in the background, a woman plays soft music on a grand piano.
This scene is very similar to any other event you might see during a fashion week, but what makes this fashion show in Istanbul different is the absence of alcohol and the presence of modest fashion that does not show much of the models' bodies.
This is what the British newspaper The Times wrote about a fashion show organized by Modanisa, a modest fashion brand, and part of a rapidly growing segment that caters to Muslim women in the fashion world.
According to the site's report, what was once considered a forgotten market is booming thanks to the purchasing power of conservative Muslims in countries such as Turkey, where the traditional elite was secular.
Modest fashion industry
The site says that the aforementioned purchasing power and the emergence of the Instagram platform have transformed modest fashion into an industry that is expected to be worth $400 billion globally by 2024, double what it was in 2014.
Turkey is the epicenter of this fashion, as is the United Kingdom, where there are many designers and consumers.
According to the site, Modanisa promotes modest brands from all over the world through its online platform, and organizes Modest Fashion Week events in London, Istanbul and the UAE.
The company was launched in Istanbul in 2011 with a capital of $ 500,000, and has made significant profits since 2018, and in May 2019 it attracted an investment of $ 15 million from Goldman Sachs and Wamda.
Today, Modanisa is Turkey's fourth largest online retailer, selling over a thousand clothing brands on its website, from modest sportswear to other high-end products.
In 2015, the company began expanding its activities to include countries outside Turkey, and the United Kingdom became one of the most important markets for Modanisa, as sales of its products during Ramadan and Eid this year increased by 70% compared to last year.
Halima Aden, the most famous hijabi model who appeared on the platforms of famous international brands (Al-Jazeera)
diversity
The site's report pointed to the impact of this fashion on the world of modest fashion, and said that a look at the pages of some women who are considered influential in the media, or a quick look at one of the fashion shows organized by Modanisa, shows the extent of the diversity that the world of modest fashion has witnessed recently.
He said that modest fashion has begun to attract stardom, and among the most prominent modest stars who have appeared recently is Halima Aden, who is the first hijab-wearing model in the world to appear on the catwalks of famous international brands such as "Dolce & Gabbana" (Dolce & Gabbana) and "Max Mara". (Max Mara) shocked the fashion industry when she resigned in November, saying she couldn't reconcile the fashion world with the exigencies of her religion.