If you’ve so much as glanced at Bloomberg in the last year or so, you’ll know that the Muslim fashion market is H-U-G-E. (According to one report, by 2019, Muslims around the world will be spending $484 billion on clothing and shoes a year.) You’ll also know that, so far, most major fashion brands have largely failed to cater to it.
There were some improvements in 2015, though: Net-A-Porter and Zara both launched special ramadan edits, and H&M featured a hijab-wearing Muslim model in a campaign for the first time. The model, Mariah Idrissi, told an interviewer, “It always feels like women who wear hijab are ignored when it comes to fashion.”
Not so in 2016! This week, Dolce & Gabbana launched its first-ever collection of hijabs and abayas. The brand debuted a 20-image lookbook on Style.com/Arabia, featuring hijabs in very-expensive-looking black silk and satiny beige charmeuse. There’s a hijab covered in large printed daisies. There’s one in polka dot. And, of course, there’s a lot of lace.
The accompanying abayas are also covered in lace. And in keeping with the brand’s spring/summer 16 collection, they come in Sicilian lemon and rose prints — trimmed with… more lace. They look exactly how you would imagine Dolce & Gabbana abayas would look.
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson
Images Dolce & Gabbana via Style.com/Arabia