Modest Fashion Goes Global

At last month’s Paris Modest Fashion Week, influencers, buyers and journalists packed the historic hall of the Hôtel La Marois as models prepared to hit the catwalk in beaded satin suits, corset dresses and full-coverage evening gowns.

One model strode through the hotel’s gilded salon in a denim maxi dress with cargo pockets, paired with a cropped jacket of the same fabric. But more surprising than the denim on the runway was the black crocheted balaclava, studded with large glittering crystals, covering her head and most of her face. It was French label Soutoura’s streetwear take on the niqab – a symbol banned in France since 2010.

France’s complicated relationship with visible expressions of Muslim identity made it a meaningful, even ironic, destination for the latest Modest Fashion Week, organized by Think Fashion, with previous editions held in Jakarta, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam.

“Bringing the event to Paris was a natural step to position modesty in the global fashion dialogue,” said Ozlem Sahin, CEO of Think Fashion. “It was also a statement that this industry has reached a level of maturity, one that can be staged at prestigious venues on the Champs-Élysées, with top modeling agencies, excellent choreography and professional organization. The message is clear: Modest fashion has the potential to be a leading force in international fashion.”

Muslim spending on fashion is forecast to reach $433 billion by 2028, according to DinarStandard’s report on the global Islamic economy, as luxury brands, department stores and trend forecasters increasingly recognize modest fashion as one of the industry’s fastest-growing consumer markets.

By 2030, Muslims are expected to make up nearly a third of the world’s population, with more than half under 25, and to capture this purchasing power, brands are increasingly serving Muslim women and their fashion preferences.

Between 2014 and 2018, labels including DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Mango and H&M launched Ramadan collections targeting Gulf buyers. Initially, many of these collections were geographically limited, mainly sold in Middle Eastern stores or marketed around the holy month of Ramadan.

At the same time, covered silhouettes gradually infiltrated the mainstream. Long hemlines, high necklines, draped designs and loose fits appeared on runways that had long relied on revealing and body-hugging fashion. Italian designer Alessandro Michele’s tenure at Gucci pushed this shift, with Victoriana-inspired blouses, floor-length skirts and layered looks, turning so-called “granny chic” into one of the defining aesthetics of late 2010s fashion.

The mainstreaming of modest fashion also owes a debt to Muslim designers and social media influencers who built loyal global audiences long before luxury fashion fully understood their commercial value. By the late 2010s, brands were inviting hijabi influencers such as Dina Torkia (British-Egyptian), Ascia al-Faraj (Kuwaiti) and Maria Alia (Palestinian-Puerto Rican) to fashion weeks in New York, London and Milan, dressing them in curated looks and placing them in front-row seats of luxury culture.

Even as broader fashion trends have swung back toward overt sensuality in recent years, Think Fashion’s Modest Fashion Week continues to provide a platform for smaller, indigenous and start-up labels to present their designs. “These events create a sense of safety, belonging and shared identity,” said Junaynah El Guthmy, a Yemeni-Kenyan creative strategist and content creator. “That foundation is essential if the ultimate goal is to move beyond tokenism and toward genuine, organic integration into the mainstream.”

Yet presence does not erase tension around ownership and authenticity. For El Guthmy, one of the biggest concerns is how modest fashion is often aestheticized in Western fashion spaces while being detached from the Muslim communities that built the industry. “It is deeply rooted in the GCC countries. It came from us. If anything, it is our perspective that shaped how the rest of the world interacts with it, not the other way around.”

That tension is particularly palpable in Europe, where modest fashion occupies an uneasy cultural position. Its advance into luxury spaces can feel simultaneously progressive and exclusionary. As hijabi writer Hoda Katebi once put it: “When you wear a turtleneck, you are elegant; when I wear it, I am oppressed.” Others question why billboard campaigns depicting Muslim women often showcase the trendy turban look rather than the traditional headscarf.

Working with designers and content creators from the community is crucial to avoid Western assimilation of the market, El Guthmy believes. Some brands have taken this feedback on board. When MCM launched its first Ramadan collection in 2024, French-Moroccan hijabi influencer Hanan Houachmi was invited to co-design with the German luxury label.

Another issue, according to El Guthmy, is the lumping together of modest fashion into a single aesthetic. “There is no one-size-fits-all when the reality is different in each place. What works in Europe will not automatically apply to the Middle East and North Africa.”

The expansion of the sector has illuminated a truly global ecosystem, each with its own aesthetic, strengths and priorities. Designer Rabia Zargarpur (UAE), also an advisor on previous global Islamic economy reports, points out that Turkey has emerged as the logistical backbone of modest fashion e-commerce through platforms like Modanisa. Meanwhile, countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have become the industry’s most creative hubs.

Designers like Dian Pelangi (Indonesia) have helped Southeast Asia become one of the most influential creative forces in the industry, combining traditional silhouettes with contemporary streetwear and social media-driven styles, shaping global modest fashion.

“Unlike other markets, Southeast Asia has successfully integrated fashion into a comprehensive lifestyle ecosystem that includes beauty, fintech and travel,” Zargarpur explained, adding that they have made strides with high-tech, breathable fabrics that allow full coverage in humid tropical conditions.

In the Gulf, the abaya has evolved from what Zargarpur describes as a “functional uniform” into “a high-fashion heritage statement,” increasingly placed alongside high-end occasionwear. Here, consumers often favor beading, bold silhouettes and couture-level craftsmanship, while European modest attire emphasizes minimalism, layering and versatility for daily wear.

As modest fashion expands from a retail niche into a larger sector with international demand, new opportunities have emerged – from hijabi models and content creators to behind-the-scenes roles in marketing, design and development. A decade ago, the industry barely existed institutionally, Zargarpur reflects. Today, she spends as much time consulting governments and mentoring entrepreneurs as she does designing clothes – a reflection of the sector’s rapid maturation into a global cultural and commercial industry with its own infrastructure, talent pool and business networks.

“Those roles simply didn’t exist in this space when I started,” she said. “Professionalizing the sector has created huge demand for high-level consultancy, bridging the gap between creative vision and large-scale growth operations.”

Yet for many women working in modest fashion, much remains to be done, beyond mainstream acceptance. Mariah Idrissi, the first hijabi model to front a global H&M campaign in 2015, is increasingly focusing on sustainability and ethical production in modest fashion – concerns that mirror broader anxieties within the luxury industry itself.

Avoiding fast fashion, promoting supply chain transparency and ensuring ethical labor practices are also Islamic values, Idrissi believes, and should be upheld by designers in this space. Chasing rapid trend cycles risks overconsumption, which conflicts with the faith-based foundation of modest fashion.

Deborah Latouche, founder of London-based luxury label Sabirah, has harnessed demand for durability, creating investment pieces that transcend trends. She launched Sabirah in 2020 to challenge the notion that elegance and coverage cannot coexist in progressive fashion designs, and the brand has showcased at London Fashion Week.

“In Europe, we have seen a clear shift from modest fashion being viewed primarily through a religious lens to being understood as a broader lifestyle choice,” Latouche said. “The definition of modesty has certainly broadened. It is no longer a fixed or singular idea; it is fluid, culturally nuanced and deeply personal.”

Whether modesty is embraced for ideological, ethical, autonomous or anti-hyper-sexualization reasons, it is clear that what was once dismissed by the Western fashion establishment as obsolete and commercially marginal is now being actively courted by the industry’s big players. As modesty enters its next phase, the most important voices will be those of the women shaping and wearing it.

“Today’s consumer is very aware,” Latouche said. “She understands craftsmanship, she understands value, and she wants to be seen as part of the fashion dialogue, not as an afterthought.”