Altaf has been surprised to get a lot of business from non-Muslim women. "One example is summer Islamic clothing. I found that a lot of non-Muslims wear it as well," she said.

Modern Muslim women, who want to score fashion points but remain attached to the core ways of dressing modestly, choose long T-shirt dresses, co-ord sets, and loose sweatshirts.

‘Apparently, Muslim women wanted colourful, patterned clothing that “blended in with the rest of Western society”. ‘My clothes aren’t powerful because they break the barriers imposed on us.

Muslim-Canadian Sooraya Graham, a fine arts student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., didn’t expect to find herself in the middle of a virtual hostage-taking when her project for ...

The French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM), a national body of Muslim associations, said the abaya on its own is not “a religious sign”. “The word abaya just means dress.