Muslim Turkish fashion designers Chic Style

   In Istanbul, on a recent Friday it was time to send the page proofs Ala magazine to the printer. Ala, the "most beautiful of the beautiful" is the first publication of the fashion world for conservative Muslim women not his office as a bastion of traditional Islam feels means. Spoke only models, photo shoots, deadlines and accessories.

Zeynep Hasoğlu, new editor of Ala, sitting behind a huge desk, his brown eyes magnified with black eyeliner and mascara. She is wearing a black blazer with matching pants, small weighted by a massive rhinestone necklace base levels. the heels complete her outfit, a look that many of his readers want. "We try to international fashion for women, without our values ​​to mediate," Hasoğlu said. She wanders through her iPad as she describes an unmet need for rich women, money to burn, but little understanding of how to spend it. You know nothing about Islamic designers know, because the Muslim fashion is a word of mouth industry.

Ala., launched in 2011, is the leading provider of these women want. It has models scarfs with well-designed outfits in the latest colors. A recent article titled "looooooong skirts!" Provides guidance in the design of rock and mix and match. Section A recurring visit Istiklal street, the promenade of central detail on the European side of Istanbul to photograph women in fashion, but conservative. As many readers of Ala, they sport sleeves that revealed falling at least until the middle of the forearm and no bare leg. But with their headscarves, they wear jeans and boots or skirts and jackets close to the body.

Taha Yasin Toraman Etesettür.com started 15 months ago. It is for Turkish hijab, the veil worn by Muslim women practitioners. The website sells black cloaks that cover the entire body and tight jackets that hug the waist. "There are many sites that offer online sales in Turkey, but there was none for conservative women," Toraman said. He launched a website in English in August for the rest of the Muslim world.

The fashion industry in Turkey has its critics, who denounce the idea that conservative women wear modern clothes flattering. Women should prefer to avoid attracting attention to themselves, as Islam calls. Women dress has long been a controversial topic. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern secular Turkey in the 1920s, Turkish women are not invited her hair. Following a military coup in 1980 temporarily checked the rise of Islamist parties, the government banned the headscarf for students and staff. The ban was partially lifted in 2010.

Under Sunni Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has a decade of prosperity, has witnessed the birth of a Muslim middle class. It is widely used in the media that nearly 60 percent of Turkish women wear a head covering now reported. Mehmet Dursun CEO Armine, the leading distributor of Islamic way of Turkey's cornered the market on a local scarf nine years ago before it. A single brand for the Muslims of the middle class The dealer has a line of home clothes, shoes, handbags and soon in the same factory that makes Michael Kors bags are made. Armine clothing and accessories are sold in stores in 1400, including the United States, the Netherlands and the UK. Gross revenue in 2012 was $ 56 million. "I want to be conservative Hermes on the line more," Dursun said.

The only thing missing in the fashion scene in Turkey is branded designer: The majority of working in relative seclusion for retailers as Armine. An exception is Filiz Yetim, manufacturer of wedding dresses for the modest. Yetim, one day in April, wearing a beige scarf, a black blouse into a pencil beige long skirt with floral appliques and gold and silver bracelets, designs clothes, a scarf, full sleeves have hidden, and a floor length hem. Average prices range from $ 4,000 to $ 5,000 for a cheap handmade products. Yetim says that they charge more in time. "In two years, this vision of the personal way is prepared, and ask ourselves what is there," she said.