Modest fashion: between ethical marketing and virtual influence

Abstract

The growth of Muslim population throughout the world, the development of social networks as well as the emergence of a new type of thought leaders are all factors that have led to an increasing demand for clothing items so called "modest fashion". We are now seeing the development of a real product-market set in which clothing businesses from different ranges target a particular segment: that of veiled Muslim women. Clothing brands and in particular luxury brands are working to create and offer clothing items that meet tastes and new trends while being in line with the Islamic values of modesty. This is a very complex market situation and which is of increasing interest to researchers. However, French research on modest fashion is very limited. In this article, we highlight the marketing concepts that intervene in a complex market: that of clothing worn by veiled Muslim women. We want to show the multidimensionality of the phenomenon and understand the dynamics linked to brand ethics and virtual communities in this growing market. On the basis of a global search for articles in the reference lists of newspapers and electronic databases, we have drawn up a critical assessment of the main theoretical contributions related to Islamic fashion, better known in Anglo-Saxon literature under the name of "Modest fashion". The contribution of the analysis is on two levels: First, we found no theoretical consensus on the concept of "modest fashion". Second, it is worth emphasizing the importance of online influencers as a fundamental part of any study that deals with the subject of modest fashion. As for the main research perspectives, the review of the literature has made it possible to orient them, on the one hand, on deterministic approaches and the proposal of explanatory models for the adoption of modest fashion and, on the other hand, on interpretive approaches based on the anthropological dimension of the Hijabista phenomenon and which includes the concepts of culture, identity and symbol.

JEL Classification : M31, L67

Paper Type: Theoretical Research.