Sweden's 'hijabista' - Hijab Meets Fashion

[Shiranu]

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/sweden-hijabista-selling-muslim-fashion-151022111549949.html

"Following that segment, Aftonbladet, a leading Swedish newspaper, reached out to Swedish department stores and asked if they would consider selling headscarves and catering to Muslim fashion," Aldebe explains.

The answer, they told her, was no.

Aldebe began to think more seriously about the concept of modernising Muslim fashion. She felt certain that these stores would change their opinion once they realised how much of an untapped market Muslim women wear was. She started to set up her "modest" fashion business.

Filling a gap

"It's interesting to see how some of these stores that refused to sell hijab years ago are now embracing it and capitalising on Muslim fashion," she says.

And it is a fast-growing market. According to a 2014-2015 report by Thomson Reuters, Muslims globally spent $266bn on clothing and footwear in 2013 and that number is expected to rise to $484bn by 2019.

One interesting line I found in it...

She recalls the criticism she faced when she first started modernising Muslim fashion in 2001. Her critics came from two usually opposed groups â€" Muslims and Swedish nationalists.

I find it funny just how similar the conservative Muslims and ultra-nationalists/xenophobes really are at the end of the day.