Source: Qantara.de
Turkish public opinion is divided over the Islamic fashion magazine “Ala”. Most of the objections emanate from the Islamist camp, which makes it all the more surprising to learn that most of the women who read the magazine are members of the new Turkish middle class, which is politically aligned with the Islamist-leaning AKP. By Marcel Malachowski
The model’s upper body is clad in shiny white silk, tight drainpipe jeans cover her slim legs; she is also wearing a tapered leather coat with fur trim, and knee-high leather boots with towering heels. It’s Saturday evening in Istanbul, in front of the hip Black Lounge, a restaurant-bar not far from the Bosphorus. The woman in the head-turning outfit is called Gülbahan – and she’s wearing a headscarf. “I won’t be dictated to on any score – and the hijab, the headscarf, makes my style even more elegant,” she says.
Up to now, it was thought that Muslim women must make a choice between two looks – dressing in accordance with religious stipulations, with a headscarf – or western-style with hair uncovered. In contemporary Turkey, however, the traditional and the modern are now being blended to make a fashion statement. It’s a style that’s been propagated for almost two years by the fashion magazine “Ala”, which can be translated as “dignity”.
And public opinion is divided over “Ala”. It’s primarily Islamist groups that are scandalized: writing in the newspaper “Zaman”, the well-known Muslim scholar and conservative populist Fethullah Gülen accuses it of betraying the profound values of Islam for the vile superficiality of aesthetic appearance. Leftwing liberal critics writing in the newspaper “Radikal”, on the other hand, joke that “Ala” still isn’t showing enough leg.
Categories: Culture and Traditions, Fashion, Turkey