11th International Fajr Fashion and Clothing Festival in Iran

Yusef Jalali

Press TV, Tehran

The International Fajr Fashion and Clothing Festival has drawn fashion designers from Iran and around the world. The designs displayed are trendy, and at the same time they conform to the Islamic dress code. Yusef Jalali has this report from Tehran.

It's the biggest day for the Iranian fashion industry; The 11th International Fajr Fashion and Clothing Festival brought together fashion designers from across Iran and some other Muslim nations, who showcased their latest designs at the event.

A typical Iranian woman is wearing a button-up coat called a manteau, and a scarf covering her head. Some others wearing a piece of cloth called the Chador, which covers the body from head to toe.

One of the challenges Iranian fashion designers have to deal with is to tailor their designs to conform to the Islamic dress code or hijab, while keeping them trendy.

Smuggling is another persisting problem in the Iranian clothing industry.

Out of the 8-billion-dollar annual turnover of Iran's garment industry, a whopping 5 billion dollars is supplied through smuggling, say activists here.

Experts believe one of the reasons smuggling has the lion's share in Iran's clothing market is that it's more cost-effective to bring in foreign clothes rather than produce them domestically.

With all the actors in Iran's fashion industry present in the Fajr Festival, the event is seen as a place to highlight and address the challenges, with the aim of setting the stage for Iranian fashion designers to shine in the domestic market.

It might seem contradictory to marry fashion with the Islamic dress code, but it's the art of a fashion designer to make clothes that are both stylish and compliant with hijab.

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