With award season winding down, we’ll have to wait until later this year for the parade of the next iterations of ‘naked dresses’ worn by attention-seeking celebrities on the red carpet. For years, the fashion industry has been a laboratory for the bold, the provocative, and the daring. For many seasons running, runways have presented sheer fabrics, micro-miniskirts, and plunging necklines as symbols of modernity and freedom. But while those looks most certainly have found their audience, there is another equally potent movement shaping global fashion– one that is often misunderstood, underestimated, or ignored altogether by popular brands: modest fashion.
Modest fashion, usually defined as clothing that offers consumers more coverage– such as long sleeves, maxi skirts (skirts far past the knee), high necklines, and loose silhouettes– is not just a passing niche or a pendulum swing. Modest fashion has evolved as a genuine cultural force driven by a diverse range of consumers, including Muslim women, Orthodox Jewish women, conservative Christian consumers, and even completely secular shoppers who simply prefer to have more coverage in their everyday wardrobes. Regardless of how it might look on the surface, this isn’t just about religious dress codes; it is a broader dialogue about identity, self-expression, and empowerment through personal style.
Modest fashion is also very big business. According to a report by DinarStandard, the global modest fashion market was valued at a staggering $277 billion in 2022, with projections to hit over $311 billion in 2024. It makes sense that much of this remarkable growth is being fueled by Muslim consumers, who account for a significant share of the market, but as mentioned above, they are far from the only segment in this market.
In the U.S., Orthodox Jewish women drive demand for modest brands, especially in large urban centers like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. And, of course, like almost everything else, influencers have entered the chat. Modest fashion influencers like Amena Khan and Basira Checkesi have turned modest fashion into a social media phenomenon, promoting everything from denim maxi skirts to elevated high-necked formal wear.
Yet, despite the impressive size of the modest fashion market, many mainstream fashion brands still overlook or misunderstand the cultural nuances behind modest dressing. When they attempt to engage, the efforts can feel awkwardly tokenistic at best– a one-off “modest edit” during Ramadan or a single campaign that features a hijabi influencer. Yes, these gestures are better than silence, but they often miss the mark, and backlash from consumers might make brands wish they had stayed silent. These gestures fail to genuinely acknowledge the ongoing, year-round purchasing power of modest fashion consumers, who are actively searching for stylish, cultural-sensitive options every season– not just during religious holidays.
And while we’re on the topic of mistakes, one of the biggest missteps that brands make when approaching modest fashion is treating it as a singular category in their product offering. The reality is a little more complex– modesty means different things to different communities. For Muslim women, modesty might mean hijabs worn with a loose-fitting look that any other contemporary woman might wear when she just wants to be comfortable and covered up, or maybe abayas with modern tailoring. For Orthodox Jewish women, it might mean knee-length skirts and covered elbows, often paired with fashionable wigs known as sheitels. Christian women who embrace modesty– from Apostolic Pentecostals to more casual everyday conservative dressers– might lean toward long skirts and high-necked blouses, but their color palettes and fabric choices might skew more mainstream.
These are distinct differences, but what unites these varied groups is a shared frustration with the lack of stylish, affordable, and readily available options that meet their needs. In a 2023 survey by Modest Fashion Weeks, over 65% of modest fashion consumers said they regularly struggle to find clothing that balances coverage with the trendiness that consumers crave. The modest fashion audience wants clothes that feel current, not frumpy– they want clothes that reflect their cultural values without making them feel out of step with what they see on the street.
This is precisely where apparel and accessory brands have an opportunity– if they take the time to genuinely understand the modest fashion audience. As what often happens, those with a seat at the table make decisions based on the assumption that they know what these consumers want based on surface-level observations or, even worse, outdated or offensive stereotypes. In reality, modest dressers represent a wide spectrum of personal tastes, cultural interpretations, and generational differences. What might appeal to a Gen Z Muslim influencer in Chicago might look very different from what an Orthodox mother of 4 in Brooklyn might be looking for.
Investing in research– especially surveys that dive deep into the preferences of modest fashion consumers across multiple communities– could unlock extremely valuable insights for brands. Understanding what factors drive purchase decisions for modest fashion consumers, whether it’s fit, price, ethical sourcing, cultural authenticity, or influencer endorsements, would help brands design products that feel both relevant and respectful in a way that is meaningful to the consumer.
Research could also explore how modest consumers feel about mainstream brands entering this space, and whether they view these efforts as sincere or opportunistic. As mentioned earlier, there is also the vital question of seasonality. Many brands mistakenly believe that modest fashion purchasing peaks during Ramadan, when in reality, these consumers are shopping year-round for workwear, vacation looks, wedding outfits, and everyday casual pieces that fit their lifestyle, just like any other consumer.
Fortunately, there are some examples of brands getting it right– and they’re reaping the benefits of their efforts. Nike’s Pro Hijab, first launched in 2017, was more than a simple functional product. It became a much-needed statement of inclusion. When Nike offered performance gear for Muslim women athletes, they won accolades, for sure, but they also built trust with a segment of the market often overlooked by the sportswear industry. Trust translated into a broader consumer loyalty, as modest consumers became more inclined to see Nike as a brand that understands their needs beyond a single product.
On the luxury side of the market, Italian label Dolce & Gabbana made headlines when it launched a high-end abaya collection targeting the ever-coveted affluent Middle Eastern consumers. It was seen as a controversial move at first, but the brand proved that modest fashion can exist comfortably alongside couture, upending old assumptions that modesty and glamour are mutually exclusive.
Every brand is different, but one thing you can count on is that executives spend a lot of time brainstorming ways to future-proof their businesses. If fashion brands want to future-proof themselves in a rapidly diversifying market, modest fashion isn’t just a trend to experiment with and move on from. Modest fashion is a category of its own to invest in long-term. That means dedicating real resources to understanding modest fashion shoppers, commissioning culturally nuanced research, hiring designers and consultants from modest fashion communities, and embedding modest options into permanent collections rather than just relegating them into temporary edits that feel like an afterthought.
Once the permanent collections are ready for market, they need to move beyond the product itself and into authentic storytelling. Modest fashion consumers want to see themselves reflected not just in lookbooks but in the DNA of the brand—in values, leadership, and cultural fluency. They want to know that brands understand the why behind their clothing choices, not just the what.
In the end, modest fashion isn’t just about consumers who want to cover up—it is an opportunity for brands to show up. The rewards for brands willing to listen, learn, and capitalize on the purchase power of this culturally important audience could be substantial.
