The Global Fashion Industry Is Embracing Diversity With More Brands Introducing Modest Styles. We Need Indian Brands To Follow Suit

The Global Fashion Industry Is Embracing Diversity With More Brands Introducing Modest Styles. We Need Indian Brands To Follow Suit

There was time when modest clothing was considered a fairly niche market but thankfully things are changing now. As consumers become more self-aware and fashion conscious, it is becoming relatively tougher for the brands to survive without truly embracing diverse fashion preferences and catering to the same. Modest fashion translates to the style statement featuring less revealing garments and hijabs and cover ups often feature in these.

For long, fashion has been prescribed as the en vogue clothing often featuring revealing outfits with low-cut necklines, skimpy silhouettes and exposed waists but finally the world is revelling in the fact that there is so much more to fashion than that. The fashion industry is broadening its horizons and branching out their collections to accommodate people from varied style choices.

Recently, a British clothing label Pretty Little Thing made headlines for casting a hijabi model for the first time for its modest clothing line. This shows how brands are becoming more accepting and inclusive of people who opt for the unconventional and different approach to fashion. However, this makes us reflect upon the fact that for a country that has a huge Muslim population, not many Indian fashion brands have ventured into modest clothing even today. Why is that?

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Also Read: These Two Muslim Girls Are Rocking Modest Fashion Like Runway Models And We Love Their Aesthetic

In the past few years, international brands like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and H&M have launched their own modest clothing line and incorporated hijabs and less-skin revealing outfits in their collection. Nike even launched hijab in their modest swimwear and sportswear collection, which is suitable to wear in the water and gym. This move was truly a game-changer in the global fashion industry?

However, closer home, things don’t seem to be even remotely shifting towards the thought. Although a lot of Indian brands have options of decent clothing that covers up, we need faith-specific fashion in the industry. In the name of modest clothing brands, we only have a handful, like Ruqsar and The Abaya Store. More Indian brands should be waking up to modest fashion which we don’t see happening.

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This could be because there isn’t much awareness about this billion-dollar category which remains unexplored by Indian brands and customers alike. There’s a gap in the market because modest fashion may be confused with merely covered up outfits which most brands are selling already. However, it’s the specific clothing that appeals to Islamic women due to cultural and religious beliefs. Fashion influencers with a mass following do play a vital role in bridging this gap in understanding and promoting modest fashion not just for the brand, but for those who want to adopt modest clothing as a way of life for their own personal preference. Thankfully, some of them are bringing the concept of modest fashion to the frontline.

Youtuber Komal Pandey recently started her modest fashion series #ModestFitsWithKomal where she drops chic modest outfits with zero skin show for the women who choose to cover up. Although she hasn’t featured a hijabi look in her episodes yet, her looks are pretty fashionable and the initiative is quite informative. Another Indian fashion blogger who has amassed more than 220k followers on her Instagram account dedicated to modest fashion is 20-year-old Anah. Her impeccable style and alluring looks could really brighten up your feed. These influencers through their work could bring more brands to realise that modest fashion is picking pace and they’d need to catch up with their collection real soon.

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It’s strange how there are modest fashion weeks happening in the world and India is seriously lagging behind in this race. Forget fashion shows dedicated to modest clothing, in India, we haven’t even started the conversation around modest fashion. We have modest fashion labels that we can count on fingers and that’s not a good thing. It’s about time Indian fashion industry also celebrates diversity and different dressing preferences and finally broadens its horizon to tap into the modest fashion category.

Also Read: This Woman Called Out Fast Fashion Retailer Shein For Selling Prayer Mats As Fancy Rugs. That’s Very Tone-Deaf Of The Brand

Anjali Agarwal

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