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Leading fashion designer targets latest product at Muslim women
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Dolce & Gabbana will begin selling hijabs and abayas this spring in the Middle East, London and Paris. - photo by Kelsey Dallas
Luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana announced this week that it will begin selling designer head coverings for Muslim women, capitalizing on a growing global market.

Forbes called the company's new product line "its smartest move in years."

The global Muslim population is expected to grow faster than any other religious group over the next 35 years, according to population growth projections from Pew Research Center. By 2050, there will be around 2.76 billion Muslims around the world, compared with 2.92 billion Christians.

In other words, Dolce & Gabbana are tapping into a huge growing market that has already been shown to have a taste for luxury fashion, Forbes reported.

"High-end fashion is positively booming in the Middle East," the article noted. "Sales of personal luxury goods in the Middle East hit $8.7 billion in 2015 up from $6.8 billion the year before."

Dolce & Gabbana's announcement was met with excitement by Muslim shoppers and fashion commentators, although the fashion brand is not the first to venture into this territory.

"Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta, DKNY, H&M, Net-a-Porter and Monique Lhuillier have all put out hijab lines for Muslim women in the last few years," Tech Insider reported.

The new collection includes hijabs, or headscarves, and abayas, a robe-like dress worn by more conservative Muslim women.

"Sold only in the Middle East, London and Paris, the pieces are trimmed in black lace and accessorized with oversized sunglasses, cocktail rings, stilettos and statement bags. Printed daisies, lemons and roses tie the pieces to beach pajamas and '50s-housewife dresses in the Spring/Summer 2016 collection," The Atlantic reported.

The article noted that the relationship between Western fashion brands and Islam has been a bumpy one because "the very things the industry celebrates materialism, vanity, sensuality are anathema to many faiths."

However, the latest line of hijabs and abayas has, so far, at least, entered the market without a hitch, signaling that the future of fashion will be bright for young Muslim women.

"Perhaps a new generation of Muslim fashionistas can now see themselves better reflected in an industry they admire," The Atlantic reported.
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