Modesty: A Fashion Paradox: Uncovering the causes, controversies and key players behind the global trend to conceal, rather than reveal.

Modest fashion is a young, fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar retail sector. What do we mean by Modest Fashion? Who are the personalities and companies driving this industry? Modest fashion has been gaining momentum in the mainstream global fashion industry over the past half-decade and is now a multi-billion-dollar retail sector. Its growing and now consistent appearance on high-profile fashion runways, on celebrities and in the headlines of fashion publications and news outlets, has shown that the modest fashion movement is hugely relevant to consumers. This is particularly true for millennials who are attracted to the feminist influences behind concealing your body, follow faith-based dress codes, or are attuned to social media, where more and more modest fashion bloggers are using imagery to inspire their followers. While the movement can credit European high fashion houses, like Gucci, for making conservative dresses and layering "in style" and "on trend," and subsequent Western labels like DKNY, H&M and Mango for dabbling in the realm of modest wear, it is the newly emerging group of faith-influenced fashion brands who are driving the revolution, along with a new crop of Muslim fashion bloggers. These have helped catapult demure dressing trends globally. This book speaks to the various personalities and companies who have helped shape the modest fashion industry into such a significant retail sector, while also exploring the controversies that lie at the heart of the movement, such as one pressing question: even if it covers the skin but is flamboyant, modeled with the purpose of attracting attention, and publicly promoted on social media, can fashion truly be modest? AUTHOR: Hafsa Lodi is an American journalist who has been covering fashion in the Middle East for the past decade. She moved to the UAE at 14. She has a BA in journalism from the Ryerson School of Journalism in Toronto and an MA in Islamic Law from SOAS in London. The relationships between religion, culture and modernity have always fascinated Hafsa, who covered topics like honour killings in Canada's South Asian communities, the use of DNA evidence in rape cases in Pakistan and the industrialisation of the Holy City of Makkah, before turning to the fashion journalism beat. She writes for The National newspaper and fashion magazines, Mojeh and Vogue India.

About the Author :
Hafsa Lodi is an American journalist who has been covering fashion in the Middle East for the past decade. She moved to the UAE at 14. She has a BA in journalism from the Ryerson School of Journalism in Toronto and an MA in Islamic Law from SOAS in London. The relationships between religion, culture and modernity have always fascinated Hafsa, who covered topics like honour killings in Canada's South Asian communities, the use of DNA evidence in rape cases in Pakistan and the industrialization of the Holy City of Makkah, before turning to the fashion journalism beat. She writes for The National newspaper and fashion magazines, Mojeh and Vogue India.

Review :
"Modesty has long been one of fashion's most debated principles. Equally deemed sexist and empowering, depending on who you ask, covering up--whether for religious, cultural, or personal reasons--makes a statement. Fashion journalist Hafsa Lodi answers the question "Is modest fashion a contradiction?" with a well-researched and tender portrait of the politics and people behind a movement."--Harpers Bazaar; "She gives us all the deets on the modest fashion world diversity, challenges and what's to come future wise"--Salam Girl Podcast *starred review*; "Modesty: A Fashion Paradox, examines the distention that lies at the core of the modest movement, and how it's pegged as the new fashion phenomenon" --AnokhiLife; "Speaking to the high-profile figures, fashion labels and high street stores which have played a significant role in making modest fashion a multi-billion-pound industry, Modesty: A Fashion Paradox also explores the movement's limitations. But what really makes for potent reading is how Lodi debunks the myth that modest fashion is simply a 'Muslim' movement."--AnOther Magazine; "She is thoughtful and reflective in her writing, something a topic like this strongly requires. It would be easy to fall into simple dichotomies of covering one's body is good or bad. However, Lodi avoids this in her shorter pieces. I expect nothing less of her in her book."--Book Riot; "Smart and journalistic, Modesty embraces the heterogeneity of fashion and of modesty to tell a new story about self-expression and freedom." -- Foreword Reviews; "Journalist Lodi debuts with a nuanced and insightful study of the "modest fashion movement" in the Muslim world and beyond." -- Publishers Weekly