JNN 27 Sept 2013 Melbourne : Combining fashion and modesty, an Australian exhibition will feature stylish Muslim women couture that applies to the needs of pious women needs, filling a void in the growing market of Islamic fashion.

“The clothes I’ve designed are for women who like to follow fashion but want to feel comfortable — they are easier for women to wear,” Dima Kattan, a fashion designer who will participate in Islamic fashion exhibition with her own label Dima G said, Onislam.net reported.

The Immigration Museum exhibition Faith, fashion, fashion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia is scheduled to from October 10 to July 9.

Held in a bid to fulfill the needs of Australian fashionable Muslim women, the exhibition aims to promote the ‘MODEST’ Muslim couture by featuring various works for Muslims fashion designers.

“Many of these labels were founded by Muslim Women whose own experience of finding fashionable head scarves was either limited or non-existent and that led them to start designing and making their own clothes,” Padmini Sebastian, Immigration Museum manager said.

Targeting different market segments, the exhibition will present both modern designs that fit both Muslims and non- Muslims.

The exhibition, which interweaves Islamic faith with modern fashion, was held for the first time in April, 2012.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Hijab has been in the eye of storm since France banned the headscarf in public places in 2004.

Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population.

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