A closer look at the Islamic fashion industry with Dubai’s Alia Khan

Islamic fashion and the global hijab culture are rapidly evolving. Leading the charge of the style movement are cosmopolitan Muslim women in their 20s and 30s. Alia Khan is one of them. Khan, who recognised the need for a platform to service and support the burgeoning sector and its designers, established the Islamic Fashion & Design Council (IFDC) in Dubai last year – the only organisation of its kind in the world. In the wake of World Hijab Day on February 1, we caught up with Khan for a closer look at the modest but modern clothing industry.

What prompted you to set-up the IFDC?

The 2014-15 Thomson Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy Report forecasts that expenditure on Muslim clothing will reach US$488 billion (Dh1.8 trillion) by 2019. That’s no joke – it’s a huge industry. And yet there has been no council to provide the platform necessary on a global scale. Until now.

What are your priorities for the council this year?

We’re launching some events designed to encourage commerce for the industry players. We have great creativity in this space but we need the brands to develop revenue cycles, grow as companies and be sustainable. Another part is content; there is lots of information out there, bloggers and social-media activity – and it’s all wonderful, we love it. We just want to culminate that into more sophisticated platforms. The third thing is collaborations in the form of global summits, forums or conferences.

Original article by Rebecca McLaughlin-Duane

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A closer look at the Islamic fashion industry with Dubai’s Alia Khan