Suburban Capitalist girls love to shop at fancy malls with designer labels, don’t exclude Muslims from that!
For them, and the discerning Suburban Capitalist Muslim man, there are new designer fashions and catwalks to watch. Give them press, coverage, and a spot on the Today Show. American as apple pie.
““Sexy Rediscovered”: Meet the team behind Muslim fashion line, Eva Khurshid”
Tackling yet another field in which Muslims have not – yet – dominated are Nyla Hashmi and Fatima Monkush, the creative forces behind the most buzzed-about fashion line for Muslims, Eva Khurshid…Q: How did your backgrounds prepare you for your career and hands-on involvement (with both the Muslim and American communities)?
A: Because of our mixed heritages, we grew up in non-traditional yet conservative homes. Having American mothers has definitely shaped both of us and helped us take ownership in our American identity. Our Muslim upbringing is a huge part of our lives where it has served us with a strong foundation on how we live our day-to-day lives and conduct our business.Q: Do you think fashion is an area Muslims need to explore and work in?
A: We really encourage Muslims going into the arts; there are not enough of us in this field. If we don’t represent ourselves, who will? It’s so important for Muslims to branch out into non-traditional fields like fashion, even working with other Muslim artists in collaboration to help one another and giving support.”
Soon to appear on your Shop Rite checkout counter
For Muslim fashion designers, the market potential is enormous
Ausma Khan, chief editor for Muslim Girl, a young women’s lifestyle magazine that was started last year in the United States, believes that dedicated brands would have added appeal for many Muslim consumers. “The potential to design Muslim fashion for women and girls and to market to this audience is enormous,” Khan said. “Imagine the clothes you see in most contemporary and popular fashion outlets – Muslim girls and women are buying them and then creatively filling in the gaps. But they would absolutely buy the same clothes with higher necklines, longer hemlines, a more voluminous fit and so on,” she said.
Even in fashion sportswear and activewear, start-up companies like Hasema from Turkey and Ahiida from Australia have tickled market observers with the advent of functional Islamic swimwear. Aheda Zanetti, Ahiida’s founder, trademarked her designs as the “Burqini,” playing off the words bikini and burqa to describe her two-piece loose-fitting tracksuit.
“I think the Islamic fashion market is going to explode in the coming years. There are signs of it already,” said Gulsen Aydemir, editor of Modest Flair, a U.S.-based Web site that sources style trends and news for its Muslim readers.
America.gov shares this video about “American Islam” – Brooke Samad – . A graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Brooke and her business, Marabo Fashion, were featured in Muslim Girl Magazine in April 2008.
While fashion shows etc are all Western inventions, they aren’t limited to the Americas. Cultural Hegemony predicts we’d find them all across the globe:
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
Bismillah
Asalaamu alaikum.
i can’t even see the last three pics (on the work computer) but that first one rankles me. There is not even a hint of Islamic dress in that picture (nor is it original) but it is something that we are supposed to be proud of? Somebody else recently said (i forget where, it might have been a comment on the last post) that one of the weird things is that Muslims are all keen to get into these fields but what they produce isn’t even up to the quality or originality of non-Muslims anyway. When it comes to fashion, it is not at all that i think Muslim women “can’t” or “shouldn’t” be fashionable or feel good… it’s that it is just as consumerist and excessive as non-Muslims. i mean, i am a good example myself because i don’t even know how many hijab scarves i own – probably well over 30, maybe 50… does one woman NEED 30 head scarves? Does the fact that some are gifts and several were bought for merely $5-7 make it better? Should i comfort myself with the knowledge that at least i’m not buying $300 silk scarves by Hermes? And then, i don’t take issue with Western Muslims modifying “western” clothing for modest wear… i personally like abaya but i don’t believe it is the “only” correct way to dress, but i do feel uncomfortable when what i see is skin tight or 3/4 sleeve or whatever and being passed off as Islamic just because a head scarf is thrown on top.
Personally as someone who comes from a Muslim minority country originally and now lives in a Muslim minority country in the west, I see two options.
1. We have a community where 20% of the people (muslims) wear traditional clothes (read: Hindustani, Arab and African) while 80% basically wear what the non Muslims do due to the cultural pull of the dominant culture. (Also in this scenario the attitude of “pious arrogant religious people vs normal people” will generally develop)
2. We have a community where 20% wear the traditional clothes and the rest are broken down into those that mix western senses of fashion-ability with correct Islamic coverings(covers the neck, not skin tight and all the hair is covered) those that lean more toward western fashion for various reasons (as seen by your post) and lastly those that for the most part abandon all forms of traditional clothes(the assimilated people)
And I am talking about both men and women here.
Bismillah
Asalaamu alaikum. Somehow i don’t think that Yursil’s issue is really about the clothes themselves as much as the consumerist mentality that surrounds the matter. And the fact that “traditional” or “Western” doesn’t negate the basic requirements of proper coverage and the reality is that the majority don’t bother to dress Islamically from a coverage/modesty perspective. The industry for so-called Islamic clothing is actually built around getting around the most basic rules of modesty. And the vast majority of men just don’t even bother at all… it’s as if traditional dress and hijab only apply to women, and only half-heartedly.