abayaAn Islamic Fashion Festival celebrated in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) this week made many Muslims revisit and reflect on the trends and history of Islamic clothing.  

It all started out with Muslim women wearing loose Jalabeeb (Islamic garments also referred to as Jilbab or Abaya) to cover their bodies in line with Islamic teachings and guidelines. The next step for Muslim women who migrated to western countries or who grew up in non-Muslim countries was to demand some spice out of such modest clothing. Muslim designers responded and added flair that mostly comprised of transforming the traditional plain colored Muslim clothing to colorful, beaded and embroidered modest clothing. Soon after that, colorful hijabs, embroidered abayas, and long printed floral skirts surfaced in the Islamic market making Muslim females compete in fashion no less enthusiastically than their non-hijabi colleagues.  

The amazing part of this trend is that it all didn’t stop there. Now, non-Muslim women have jumped in the foray and are demanding colorful abayas, long tunics and fancy shawls and scarves as well. The non-Muslim women though have demanded their own customizations to the fashionable clothing. They have been demanding abayas that fit tight to their bodies and want slits in abayas to expose parts of their bodies. Muslim designers all over the world have been responding to such demands and are laying the foundation of new line of “Islamic Clothing for non-Muslims”.  

How notable is this trend? Well…..when designers such as Calvin Kelin and Christian Dior start designing abayas, then we know it is no small affair.

Want to guess what is next for Islamic Clothing?