Fashion & Style: What Islamic Freedom Looks Like

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Vanessa Friedman

The Marks & Spencer “burkini.”

Is it fashion’s responsibility to ease acceptance of different identities; to foster tolerance and understanding — or to promote a specific aesthetic expression of liberty? On the surface, the argument is about the trend — call it that — among a growing number of fashion brands to offer Islamic, or “modest” collections. On one side are those who say the social contract demands that everyone eschew symbols of their personal belief systems in service of the secular collective; on the other, those who insist that freedom includes the freedom to wear whatever you want (and sell whatever you want). [link]