The Rise Of The Muslim Fashion Industry

New York: The 2015-16 State of the Global Islamic Economy Report released on Wednesday revealed that Muslim consumers spend an estimated $230 billion on clothing, a number that is projected to grow to $327 billion by 2019 — larger than the current combined clothing markets of the UK ($107bn), Germany ($99bn) and India ($96bn).

Rafi-Uddin Shikoh, the person behind the study, said: “Overall clothing purchase by Muslim consumers does not directly translate into Islamic fashion”. “But there are a number of drivers that suggest the modest fashion industry will be growing towards those numbers,” he further added.

First of all, there is the “importance of religion” in people's life. Compared with Europe, where only one in three respondents deem religion important, or the US where that percentage hovers at around 50 per cent, in majority Muslim countries 88 per cent of the population define religion as important.

Secondly, there are the demographics. The average age in Muslim majority countries is about 30 in Europe and the US it is about 44. This is very important as the purchasing power of young consumers tends to grow over the years.

The third important driver is an economic one. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries with a majority Muslim population is projected to grow at an average of 5.4 per cent a year compared with the 3.4 per cent of Europe and the US over the next few years.

Last but not least, 29 per cent of the global population is expected to be Muslim by 2030.

Local entrepreneurs and designers are not the only ones to have jumped on the modest fashion bandwagon. Large international brands such as DKNY, H&M and Uniqlo have all created collections to cater to the Muslim market. Recently, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled its Abaya and Hijab collection, causing a stir in the luxury fashion world.