Burkini debate distant in Turkey as Islamic fashion booms

The model adjusts her clothing, stares at the camera with a hint of a smile, holds her head high and the photographer starts snapping.

But at this photoshoot on the Asian side of Istanbul, the models, impeccably made up, sport no body-hugging Western styles.
 
All wear headscarves and loose fitting outfits in a shoot for one of the industry's fast growing sectors -- modest but trendy Islamic fashion.
 
Istanbul is positioning itself to be a hub in this nascent industry, which according to the Dubai-based Islamic Fashion and Design Council could be worth almost $500 billion within decades.
 
Modanisa, a Turkish online Muslim clothing retailer, started small in 2011 and today is one of the biggest names in the market. It offers more than 30,000 products -- from casual tunics to shiny evening wear to sports gear, shoes and accessories -- from 300 brands and ships to 75 countries.    

The firm calls itself the "first online fashion and shopping website for women who embrace a modest dressing style".    

Modanisa's CEO Kerim Ture said that in years past there was so little choice that a religiously conservative young woman had no option but to wear the same clothes as her mother.
 
"If that was happening in a country (Turkey) where 99 percent of its population is Muslim, we wondered how the situation was around the world," he added. "That's how we've started our worldwide web business."

He was surprised by this summer's furore in strictly secular France over whether Muslim women had the right to wear the burkini swimsuit, which covers all but the hands, feet and face.
         
French courts ultimately ruled that a burkini ban by some 30 towns was "clearly illegal" and a violation of...