Paris faces modest‑wear backlash
Paris is preparing to host a modest fashion week even as national debate over hijab and headscarf bans creates a politically charged backdrop for the event (hyphenonline.com). Coverage frames the moment as a test of whether the city can stage explicitly modest programming without inflaming the broader public debate on religious dress (hyphenonline.com).
Paris opened its first international Modest Fashion Week on April 16, putting a runway event about covered dress into France’s long-running fight over religious clothing. (hyphenonline.com) The three-day event runs from April 16 to 18 at Hôtel Le Marois in the 8th arrondissement, with 30 runway shows, eight industry panels and a showroom for buyers, according to Hyphen and FashionNetwork. (hyphenonline.com) (fashionnetwork.com) Think Fashion, the Turkey-based company behind the series, has staged earlier editions in cities including Istanbul, London, Dubai and Riyadh before bringing the 11th edition to Paris. (hyphenonline.com) (businessnewsmea.com) In this market, “modest fashion” means clothing designed to cover more of the body while still following mainstream fashion cycles, a category that has grown across Muslim-majority countries and Western retail alike. FashionNetwork said Ramadan spending alone makes the sector commercially significant across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. (fashionnetwork.com) The Paris debut lands after another turn in France’s dress-code politics. On February 18, 2025, the Senate voted 210 to 81 for a bill banning “ostensibly” religious clothing or symbols in sports competitions run by French federations. (france24.com) (forbes.com) France already bars conspicuous religious symbols in public primary and secondary schools under a law signed on March 15, 2004, and it bans clothing that conceals the face in public space under a law enacted on October 11, 2010. (wikipedia.org) (legifrance.gouv.fr) The school rules tightened again in late August 2023, when Education Minister Gabriel Attal said abayas would no longer be allowed in state schools before the new term began. (amnesty.org) (rfi.fr) Supporters of these restrictions say they enforce laïcité, the French model of state secularism. Senator Michel Savin said during the sports bill debate that “neutrality is essential” in sport, while France 24 reported the measure was framed as applying to all visible political or religious signs. (forbes.com) (france24.com) Rights groups answer that the rules fall hardest on Muslim women and girls. Amnesty International said the 2025 sports bill would “target Muslim women and girls,” and United Nations experts said in October 2024 that France’s sports hijab bans are discriminatory and should be reversed. (amnesty.org) (ohchr.org) That leaves the Paris shows carrying two meanings at once: a trade event for designers and buyers, and a public test of whether a city built around fashion can host a modest-wear showcase while France keeps arguing over who may cover what, and where. (hyphenonline.com)
