‘Glam and modest’: DKNY launches Ramadan collection

U.S.-based fashion powerhouse DKNY has launched a Ramadan Summer 2014 collection styled by two women from the Middle East and available in the region.

Yalda Golsharifi, fashion editor of Styles Magazine; and Tamara al-Gabbani, a fashion designer in Dubai, created the collected geared towards women.

The line boasts long, flowing dresses, skirts, and jumpsuits; long-sleeved shirts, coats, and even a three-quarters-length leather jacket.

Bina Shah, writing for The Independent, says the result is a collection that is “inspirational for Muslim women looking for ways to be glam and modest at the same time.

“The fabrics drape around the body, encasing the curves that nature gave Middle Eastern women without making them obvious, or attempting to disguise them in bag-like abayas. They walk the fine line between cosmopolitan and conservative, luxurious and ostentatious,” she added.

To market the line, DKNY has included interviews with the two stylists on their website, including questions on their favorite Ramadan hangouts.

What’s your favorite thing about Ramadan, DKNY asked Golsharifi, “I love the food, the gatherings and staying up late!”

According to Shah, DKNY had included a saying of the Prophet Mohammad on their website: “Ramadan is the month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness and whose end is freedom from fire.” However, they had reportedly edited the saying to remove the words “from fire.”

Shah asserted that “this can be corrected immediately, either by removing the quote completely or using the quote in totality and telling us who said it. If you’re going to appeal to Muslims, half-measures like these won’t work; authenticity is the key element in making concepts like these a success.”