WHAT DO YOU CALL a woman looking to buy a Hijab? – Abaya. Okay, okay, not the funniest joke to kick off with. It was featured earlier this week on Vogue, the infamous fashion guru, that Dolce & Gabbana have released a collection of Hijabs and Abayas for the female population of the Muslim market.
“According to a report by Thomson Reuters, Muslim shoppers spent $266 billion on clothing and footwear in 2013 and are expected to spend $484 billion by 2019”
Wow! that’s quite a statistic! It means a great return for western businesses who develop collections for the Middle East, and fantastic news for Muslim women with a taste for luxury fashion.
This collection is certainly an exciting development, but why don’t more western fashion labels accommodate more modest collections for women in the middle east? In recent years, such brands as DKNY, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, and Monique Lhuillier have produced one-off collections, often sold around Ramadan, but stats prove the Muslim market is keen for luxury goods all-year-round.
I think from my experience of being raised in the Middle East, luxury is on every Arabs list - particularly women. They love to look their best, I know lots of fashion designers already design for Hijabs, but this is the first i've personally seen for the Abaya, it looks great! I'd wear one!
Saliah Bryan, Creative at Creative Action