Alia Khan is the Founder and Chairwoman of Islamic Fashion and Design Council (IFDC) in Dubai, an organisation established for the development of the Islamic fashion and design industry worldwide. She has had the privilege of working with experts from around the world and is a recognised industry expert and speaker who has also partnered with top business forums, conferences, and events including London School of Economics, Women In Leadership Summit, World Islamic Economic Forum, Dubai Shopping Festival, MOCA fellows, International Textile Fair, Dubai government’s Halal Seminar, French Fashion Institute Esmod, Global Islamic Economy Summit to name a few. She has also been featured in multiple global publications including Thomson Reuters GIES Report, EuroMonitor’s Halal Fashion and Arts booklets, Elle Magazine, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, etc. As of March, 2018 Alia is also listed as the top 50 Most Influential Women of the Arab World.

With offices in nine countries and growing rapidly to other countries, IFDC is the first of its kind fashion and design council representing the Islamic economy and its stakeholders. IFDC aligns itself with established and budding mainstream as well as Islamic fashion and design brands, government organisations, institutions, corporations, global conferences, events, fashion weeks, and publications to ensure a powerful, sustainable and supportive presence that will lead its talent to the global marketplace. It has recently opened office in Karachi too; with Alia Khan as the Chairperson and Saad Zaidi as the Director of Corporate affairs.

Following are the edited excerpts of BR Research’s conversation with the Founder of IFDC:

BR Research: Tell us about yourself and your inspiration for an organisation like IFDC.

Alia Khan: In Canada and USA, I was working on my own fashion creations. I relocated from California to Dubai to complete several projects in the GCC and MENA region before moving to Jordan to further my Islamic studies. Upon completion, my philanthropic interest in the development of the underprivileged areas of the Muslim world became a priority; with the help of top educators and experts from around the world, we have tried to provide solutions to upgrade education systems and eradicate malnutrition with an effective food program. I have also been providing personal development programs to the students and teachers of these villages.

Along the way, I discovered my artistic and design talent, which paved way to successfully establishing Islamic Fashion Design Council. With the support of my IFDC team, I have been teaching the personal development course in several places including Bradford University’s Namal College, WIEF Young Leaders Network, MOCAfest, KPK Public Schools, and Esmod Fashion Institute, among others.

BRR: What is the concept behind IFDC? How long has it been around? What is the size of the market you are catering to?

AK: Until recently, the idea of ‘modest wear’ was scarcely considered and was only associated with Muslim women who were considered to be far away from what was considered fashionable. Now however, many mainstream large fashion brands and high end brands have taken up the idea and have introduced modest fashion lines specifically to penetrate the untapped Muslim market.

Since there is a growing demand there will be growing numbers of designers and brands that would want to become involved in the modest industry. For this very reason IFDC – Islamic Fashion and Design Council - has been established to provide mutual platform to support and develop the global modest fashion and lifestyle industry as well as its players.

We launched the concept back in 2013 at the same time (coincidentally) when His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai put out a mandate that Dubai is to be the global hub of the Islamic Economy. This was the reason we were blessed with Dubai government’s support as it was at that time that they identified fashion and art as one of the seven necessary pillars to keep this economy going. Since then we’ve been working with some government offices, partnering with fashion weeks, fashion and business summits, fora, retailers, media groups, etc. to build on the opportunities that exist in this $322 billion consumer market. The modest fashion industry is worth a whopping $322 billion industry globally, according to ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy Report’ by Thomson Reuters in collaboration with Dinar Standard.

BRR: What other segment of fashion are you representing besides apparel?

AK: Modest fashion encompasses everything from couture, athleisure, streetwear, accessories, etc. The modest consumer has every bit of the high demands in these areas as the mainstream consumer. In fact, when you have a modest fashion consumer, you can pretty much understand what their taste in other design savvy areas will be like art, interiors, gadgets, etc.

BRR: True that Pakistan is a potential market for IFDC since it’s a Muslim country. How would you explain the industry dynamics of the country that would act as enablers for IFDC? What will be your modus operandi? 

AK: We have several plans for Pakistan. We believe that Pakistan is very special market, and the consumer base has more modest lifestyle values and demands than people know. We plan to develop this market and give it its due respect specially thought our initiatives including events, retailer programs, and general memberships, which will enable and support the incredible Pakistani talent in this space.

BRR: What is your view of the Pakistan’s current fashion industry? How much can this specialised field generate for Pakistan in terms of revenues or employment?

AK: Well if you just do the math on the global spending power, this market has a potential of $322 billion globally. Keeping this in mind and that Pakistan is one of the key countries for modest fashion; I would say that if we focus just on the demands of the Pakistani modest lifestyle consumer market, we are looking at a pretty impressive figure. A part of our work includes consumer reports and industry surveys; we aim to bring better understanding by building more opportunities for growth and success. You can access our research resources on our website. We are currently conducting one through our Canadian research partners and will be releasing it soon. We plan to do something similar for Pakistan too.

The growth in the country’s fashion industry has been phenomenal over the past decade or so. However, I believe that it has a lot more potential than it has realized. We at IFDC hope to institutionalise the business of fashion and bring global recognition to many players in the Pakistani fashion scene.

BRR: What are the challenges that you are facing globally? What about Pakistan?  

AK: The biggest observation I have here is that people have a preconceived idea of what modest fashion is, and often it’s far from the truth. Modest fashion is every bit elegant, stylish, and beautiful as any other. The faith based values that primarily define this fashion is where people get confused - it’s not about oppression at all; in fact, it’s the opposite, it’s about choices and freedom.

BRR:  Have you been able to loop in any brands in Pakistan so far? What is your marketing strategy for the country?

AK: We are working on our plan as of now. We have several brands that have reached out to us. We believe many have immense potential on a global scale. Our goal is to tap into and expand on their potential as far and wide as we can.

BRR: Where do you see ‘modest clothing’ industry going in the next five years?

AK: Where it’s been going all along. Modest fashion has been there since the beginning of time and will remain till the end. It’s always been a huge market and that won’t change ever. It’s a faith based play primarily, and when you see people embrace something for a higher reason, you will see they hold on to it for life normally.

Though there has always been a huge demand for modest fashion; the industry has only taken off in the last five years. And now the mainstream fashion industry taking stock of the immense potential this industry has.