COVER STORY MARKETING TO ASIA’S

The making of a modest revolution As Islamic fashion moves into the mainstream with from Nike to D&G producing their own lines, Sunory Dutt analyses whether they’re getting it right — or merely playing dress up

etween the mid 1970s and the late ’90s, plus-size clothing was the fashion industry buzzword and almost every launched collections targeted at curvy bodies. It’s not as if larger figures didn’t exist before or after those two decades, but there’s nothing the fashion worldB likes more than dismantling an issue, dressing it up and selling it back to the public — with bells on. We are currently witnessing such fervour around Shariah-compliant clothing, or what’s more popularly known as ‘’. With the fastest-growing religion and the number of Muslims expected to increase twice as fast as the world’s population by 2050 (to a total of 3 billion, according to Pew Research Center), Muslims have become a key target group for the fashion industry — and for good reason, from the finance director’s perspective. While they spent US$266 billion on clothing in 2013, Muslim consumer spend is expected to almost double to $484 billion by 2019, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. Standing out… (clockwise By far the wealthiest markets are Turkey and the , from main) a model at the but modest fashion also has a growing consumer base in the APAC region, first Asia Islamic Fashion particularly in countries with high concentrations of Muslims such as Indonesia Week; an ad for a D&G and Malaysia. The first Asia Islamic was held in March in ; a burkini by Aheda Kuala Lumpur with the theme, ‘Establishing Asia as a global centre for Islamic Zanetti fashion’. The event welcomed 180 exhibitors from 10 countries, including non-Muslim countries such as Japan, China and Singapore. Singapore also held its own first ‘Modest Fashion Weekend’ last month, featuring more than 50 regional designers such as Lully Selb and Lulu Alhadad, while the second Tokyo Modest will take place this November. While ‘breakthroughs’ in the modest fashion world will only ever occur within fairly conservative parameters, for self-evident Shariah-compliance reasons, the creativity displayed by designers at these shows is testament to the youth of so many of their customers in the region — and these customers’ eagerness to explore new forms of self-expression. Some 60 percent of Muslims under the age of 30 live in Asia and these “Muslim futurists”, as they are named by Ogilvy Noor (an Islamic branding offshoot of the Ogilvy network), take the view that faith and modernity are inextricably linked. With this in mind, big multinational fashion brands that already have enormous young customer markets for their ‘regular’ lines, have for some time been attempting to join the modest fashion game as it finds its creative feet. Uniqlo has an ongoing partnership with the British Muslim designer Hana Tajima, whose first collection for the brand launched in Southeast Asia in 2015 and is now available across the world. Her latest line features cropped long-sleeved blouses and long flared skirts as well as printed made from Uniqlo’s quick-dry ‘AIRism’ material. H&M and Mango have also created

40 May 2017 Campaignasia.com MARKETING TO ASIA’S MUSLIMS COVER STORY

The big brands’ ‘Ramadan collections’ are a case in point. DKNY, Mango, , Zara and Oscar de la Renta are just some of the designers to have dabbled in this area, hoping to capitalise on the tradition of wearing or giving new clothes at Eid-al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the holy month. While some factions of the Muslim community appreciate that these fashion giants are showing an interest in Islamic fashion, others feel that many of the collections are not appropriate for Ramadan, being too relaxed and casual for the formal evening celebrations that accompany the month. Ramadan is also one of the busiest times of the year for Muslims, who will be involved in 30 days of family, worship and charity commitments. So, when Mango launched its collection a week modest fashion collections, while luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana started before Ramadan last year, and DKNY, Zara and selling its first hijab and abaya range last year, targeted at Middle Eastern Tommy Hilfiger released theirs on the first day of customers. Some applauded the line; other criticised D&G’s use of Caucasian Ramadan, they left it too late: Muslim customers models. had no time for their shopping. In general, these collections aren’t gaining traction with the Muslim Given these cultural faux-pas, it seems naive community to the same degree as local brands, to think that these says Alia Khan, chairwoman of the Islamic Fashion brands have any honest Design Council. “They aren’t understanding this intentions about in the way they need to understand it,” serving the Muslim she says. “They have to know how to cater to the “ They need to make a community and their individual, their way of life, the culture, sensitivities interests beyond etcetera. The big brands are not doing that and concentrated effort in boosting the profit they’ve suffered quite a bit.” Khan thinks brands margin. Khan laughs need to pause, seek consultation and understand proving to this market this off. “I don’t want to that there are ways to approach the modest fashion that they have done their second-guess anyone’s market that aren’t being pursued so far. “They need intentions. Naturally, to make a concentrated effort in proving to this due diligence ” you’re not expecting market that they’ve done their due diligence, and Alia Khan, chairwoman, the fashion world to they understand and respect them for what their be any different from needs are and take it forward from there.” Islamic Council the rest of the business

Campaignasia.com 2017 May 41 COVER STORY MARKETING TO ASIA’S MUSLIMS

world. Their job is to look for business opportunities and that’s what they’re doing,” she says. “It’s not their job to make socio-politically correct sensitive comments. Their job is to make really good clothing and appeal to the various markets that they make the clothing for and see who takes an interest in that.” Understanding the process by which modest fashion has evolved to what it is today might be the key to more sensitive collections in the future. Neslihan Cevik, a Turkish sociologist of religion, points out in her book, Muslimism in Turkey and beyond, that Islamic fashion in the ’80s was mostly monotone — dark green or black. The scarf would have to be tied in a particular way, as determined by the jamaha — informal religious community — which was almost always headed by a man. By the ’90s jamahas had started to weaken and civil society organisations, which did not impose a collective identity on women but recognised them as individuals, had become more popular, allowing women to be able to express themselves — partly through personalising their hijabs. “It wasn’t or individualism,” she says. “It was personalisation of the self, and the acceptance of legitimacy of that personalisation by the Cut above… Zalia, by point about the ‘meaning’ of modest fashion, Muslim community.” Zalora, caters for Muslim according to Cevik. “They may risk making the It is easy for companies that don’t understand this background to miss the men as well as women mistake of thinking: ‘I have this bag, I’ll just make it halal, and make a lot of money!’” she says. “It doesn’t work that way. It needs to solve a problem “ You’re not just giving a style or cut — because this sector of Islamic fashion is really about solving practical problems. but answering a question about who “What you’re giving the customer is not just an additional style or cut, you’re answering the the customer can be ” question of ‘who can I be’, ‘what activities can I Neslihan Cevik, sociologist and author engage’, and ‘what aspirations can I have in life?’” Cevik’s research has shown that the products that sell the most successfully are those that have literally solved a problem. NIKE JUST DID IT! The Australian Muslim Aheda Zanetti has sold over 700,000 burkinis, or burkhas for the beach, Nike’s Pro Hijab for for example, since she established the brand in Muslim athletes has been 2008 and in the face of the burkini ban in France a year in the making last year, her sales actually grew by 200 per cent. but will finally hit stores Sefamerve, the creator of the ‘hijab bonnet’ for in spring 2018. The sportswomen, is another success story, pulling in ergonomically designed US$25 million in revenue within two-and-a-half single-layer pull-on head years of its launch. cover made of lightweight A further point to remember for brands hoping polyester is already to be taken seriously in the modest fashion world is being worn by Emirati that one size definitely does not fit all regions. The figure skater Zahra Lari. leading Asian fashion portal Zalora has had its own “I was thrilled and a bit in-house line, Zalia, since 2014, specifically to cater emotional to see Nike to the Southeast Asian market for fashionable, prototyping a hijab,” well-made and affordable modest wear. The brand says Lari. “I’ve tried so makes a point of localising its marketing strategies many different hijabs for Game ready… Nike’s new Pro Hijab will hit shelves next year in-keeping with context and aesthetics. performance, and so few “Across the spectrum, there are nuances in the of them actually work for the Olympics Games national women’s soccer and we are going to pay preferences of Muslim men and women,” says me. But once I put on the since 2004, while brands team. But when a major respect to it by coming up Rayne Reed, Zalora’s head of private labels. “For Pro Hijab and took it for such as Sefamerve and multinational brand such with products that this example, a dress that sells well in Indonesia may a spin on the ice, I was Mondanisa’s have been as Nike creates a product market. It’s a very positive not sell as well in Malaysia or Singapore given that blown away by the fit and serving sporty urban and like this, it sends a loud thing. Their branding Indonesia will have its own aesthetic preference. the light weight.” active Muslim women message, says Alia Khan, has been giving more We study current trends in each country where Although the most for years now. Last year, Islamic Fashion Design spotlight to the modern we do business, and make our assortment and prominent recent creator too, Danish Council chairwoman. hijabi woman and putting images relevant to our customers — right from of sportswear for the company Hummel “They’re basically giving her in a favourable light the selection of dresses on the runway in each hijabista, Nike isn’t the unveiled a soccer jersey a nod of approval to our from the general audience country, to the dress to feature in our digital first. Women have been with an attached hijab market and saying this is a perspective, and that’s a banner, to the music of a video. Everything has to competing in hijabs in for the Afghanistan very valid and real market great start.” be locally relevant.”

42 May 2017 Campaignasia.com