Abstract
Ever since Tekbir Inc. displayed its products on the catwalk in a fashion show in 1992, what we call “veiling-fashion” has been on the rise in Turkey. Veiling-fashion consists of ever-changing but always striking combinations of headscarves with skirts, pants, and coats in the season’s trendy colors, fabrics, and designs. Despite the harsh criticisms that target both the producers and consumers of these styles, veiling-fashion continues to expand and diversify. Today, about 200 companies specialize in the production of veiling-fashion. The largest market their products through fashion shows, glossy catalogues and advertisements. And they find a vibrant consumer base. How do companies market their products and employ visual and discursive strategies to seamlessly combine veiling and fashion? We examine the emergence and growth of veiling-fashion with a focus on its visual representations in fashion shows and catalogues. This analysis traces the aesthetic and functional expansion of the field. We argue that in catalogues and on the catwalk, prominent veiling-fashion companies construct an ideal image of the Muslim woman as cosmopolitan, trendy, beautiful, and of a certain class status. This multiple signification of veiling-fashion moves beyond the Islamic moral code as its only referent and brings into play a plurality of cultural, historical, and geographical references from the Ottoman past to contemporary destinations of global tourism in Europe. Veiling-fashion, thus, shifts the accepted boundaries of both religion and fashion.
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Notes
- 1.
In the summer of 2009, we conducted 11 focus groups with women consumers of Islamic dress, salespeople, and industry workers in Istanbul and Konya. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Geography and Regional Science, Proposal No: 0722825. The title is “Collaborative Research: The veiling-fashion industry: transnational geographies of Islamism, capitalism, and identity.” Research for this study was conducted with the assistance of Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezi (SAM), Levent, Istanbul. Only the authors are responsible for the content of this article.
- 2.
The survey was also part of the NSF project cited above.
- 3.
See Gökarıksel and Secor (2010b) for more detailed analysis of the veiling-fashion industry in relation to the Turkish apparel industry more broadly.
- 4.
Many of these catalogues are posted on line at the site www.tesettur.gen.tr/. All of the catalogues referenced in this paragraph were available at this site as of June, 2012.
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Gökarıksel, B., Secor, A.J. (2015). Islam on the Catwalk: Marketing Veiling-Fashion in Turkey. In: Brunn, S. (eds) The Changing World Religion Map. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_135
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