Hard-liners are not amused. They charge that the new designs encourage “Western values.’’
But at a recent government-sponsored fashion show, young women and their mothers gazed approvingly at mannequins showcasing the new coats and scarves.
Shoukoufeh Arabpour, 23, coveted a velvet blue “manteau,’’ as women’s coats are called here, borrowing from the French word. The design was called “peacock’’ and clearly marked a world of difference from the black chador that Arabpour had wrapped around herself.
“I adore it,’’ said Arabpour, a student of fashion design. Around her, other women took photos of the 110 designs, which were entered in a competition for the best Islamic dress.
Followed by television cameras, a team of judges - mostly men - circled the halls, grading the different coats on their functionality, design, and “Islamic-ness.’’
Arabpour wasn’t interested in the contest, explaining that if it were up to her, she would be wearing something like the peacock coat instead of the chador, which covers everything except her face.
“I wear that because my family wants me to,’’ Arabpour said.
Many hard-liners say the “culture’’ of covering up protects women and prevents them from becoming sex objects. They often denounce Western advertising as abusing women’s bodies to sell products.
But faced with a majority of young adults - nearly 70 percent of Iran’s more than 72 million people are younger than 35 - religious conservatives have been waging an uphill battle to prevent young urban women from dressing the way they want, even within the framework of the laws that mandate coats and scarves.
With demographics fueling rapid changes in Iranian society, many women nowadays - even conservative ones - watch Western video clips, post their thoughts on Facebook, and travel to beaches in Turkey and Dubai.
