The Detroit News. Many Islamic women are looking for ways to combine Islamic morality and a fashionable style of dress to express their individuality. In Cairo, a woman walks briskly to work in a tapered blouse, elegant pants, sunglasses and chrome bracelet. In Iran, a dress code was enacted after the 1979 Islamic revolution requiring women to wear head scarves and long coats even at the height of summer. But fashion crept in, taking off after the moderate Mohammad Khatami became president in 1997.
Islamic chic makes it easier for women from traditional homes to work in the modern sector.
Karaduman is quick to exploit political events. In Tekbir fashion shows, models wearing head scarves and suits tapered at the waist saunter down a cat walk, swaying their hips and thrusting them forward. Unlike women in more conservative Muslim countries, they wear makeup, look male spectators in the eye and greet applause with a smile.