According to The Modest Clothing Market Report, modest wear continues to be a dominant force in the fashion industry, with projections to expand at a CAGR of 5.00% from 2024 to 2031.
North America dominates the market, accounting for more than 40% of the global revenue in 2024. Europe holds a significant share, contributing to over 30% of the global market size in 2024 and Asia Pacific represents around 23% of the global revenue in 2024. It is projected to grow at a robust CAGR of 7.0% during the same period.
When we asked Hatem Alakeel on his thoughts about toby being perceived as ‘modest wear’ he was very candid in his rejection of the label. In his view, a designer is simply a designer of fashion, and, to attach any ideology to it, is disingenuous.
“Fashion shows should never have an ideology or religion attached to it because it compartmentalises the designer, which is unfair. There is an abundance of ladies who do not identify with the term ‘modest wear’ or ‘Islamic wear’. They simply want to wear longer cuts not because of an ideological position, but because they feel more comfortable personality-wise, or it may be more flattering to their form, or they just love that personal aesthetic. A good example of this frustration is when a collection is labelled as modest wear, or Islamic wear, a buyer may not even look at the craft of the work. But if you say look at my line, without that label, they look at the collection, and see the beauty of the piece, rather than be blinded by pre-conception. It’s very important for our industry, and all designers to establish that design is simply design,” says Alakeel.
Alkeel’s position is food for thought. If we look at the Star Wars franchise, all costumes were originally inspired by the film’s shoot location – Tunisia. No one identifies the Star Wars outfits as being ‘Islamic’ or ‘modest wear’. In this example, we can understand that context is everything.
