Dubai modest-wear event will present 'disruptive solutions' to regular fashion weeks

Pret-A-Cover Buyers Lane is organised by the Dubai-based Islamic Fashion & Design Council

Alia Khan, director of the Islamic Fashion and Design Council. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Islamic Fashion & Design Council announced on August 7 that it will helm a modest fashion and design event in Dubai later this year.

Pret-A-Cover Buyers Lane will feature modest-wear designers, artists and lifestyle brands from around the world, in a bid to satisfy the requirements of a market estimated to wield a spending power of nearly US$400 billion (Dh1.5 trillion).

While the date and venue are yet to be announced, the chairwoman of IFDC, Alia Khan, says: “We’ve been working toward disruptive solutions to the Fashion Week model. It is important to be innovative in delivering solutions that [people] will find beneficial and effective. We now have the answers that will serve the industry better; a revolutionary concept that will take modest fashion and lifestyle to the next level.”

Buyers Lane is gearing up to: offer more exposure to artists and designers; generate an accessible platform and shopping experience for potential and current buyers; and encourage a meaningful engagement between the two groups. The event takes its name from the trademarked Pret-A-Cover Fashion Week, which is a feature within IFDC's interactive e-magazine. Cover Magazine is a free web-based quarterly publication available on ifdcouncil.org that targets readers, viewers and shoppers on the conservative style scene.

Since it was launched in 2014, IFDC has taken great strides in the global fashion marketplace. Last month’s Torino Fashion Week, for instance, marked the first time that an Italian fashion week incorporated a segment dedicated solely to modest wear, carried out in partnership with IFDC. The show hosted brands from Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey and South Africa, another indication of  modest wear’s growing appeal. Accordingly, Khan reveals that after its Dubai launch, Buyers Lane will travel to three other countries.

Know your modest fashion