Islamic Fashion & Design Council
Based in Dubai, UAE, Alia Khan (Born in Faisalabad, Pakistan and grew up in Alberta, Canada and California, USA) is the Founder and Chairwoman of Islamic Fashion and Design Council (IFDC), an organization established for the development of the Islamic fashion and design industry worldwide.
With offices in 9 countries and growing rapidly to other countries, IFDC is the world’s leading fashion and design (art, architecture, interiors, etc.) council representing the Islamic economy and its stakeholders.
IFDC aligns itself with established and budding mainstream as well as Islamic fashion and design brands, government organizations, institutions, corporations, global conferences, events, fashion weeks, and media groups to ensure a powerful, sustainable and supportive presence that will lead its talent to the global marketplace.
Honors & Awards: Alia Khan has been nominated business woman of the year by CEO Magazine and Entrepreneur of the Year by Gulf Business News. Is on the DXB 100 list, and is listed as the top 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World (CEO Magazine/Arabian Business).
Background: Raised in Canada and the USA, Alia worked on her own fashion creations with a fusion twist. Soon, she was producing unique fashion shows, events, and media programs, which led to setting up her own independent media and marketing company in Los Angeles. Winning high profile clients like Procter and Gamble and taking the lead on international projects was what lead her to significant exposure.
Philanthropy: In 2005 Alia relocated from California to Dubai to complete several projects in the GCC and MENA region before moving to Jordan to further her Islamic studies at Qasid Institute. Upon completion, her philanthropic interest in the development of the underprivileged areas of the Muslim world became a priority. Today, Alia’s charity provides solutions through the aid of top educators and experts from around the world who’ve joined in her commitment to upgrade education systems and eradicate malnutrition with an effective food program. Along the way, Alia discovered great artistic and design talent, whom she has become a promotional voice for through IFDC. As a result of meeting top education and development experts, Alia received additional training on how to teach the art of success to the students and teachers of these villages. She has also applied these techniques in her own work, which left her convinced that she must offer this to as many people as possible. Now, with the help of scientists, researchers, and scholars Alia offers a personal development and success program through IFDC that has been deemed a ‘life changer’. She has taught this course in several places including Bradford University’s Namal College where she has been a recurring guest lecturer and counselor, WIEF Young Leaders Network, MOCAfest, KP Public Schools, and Esmod Fashion Institute, among others.
Islamic Fashion & Design Council: Since being back in the work scene, Alia with the support of her IFDC team, training programs, and commercial initiatives, is determined to fill the void that she’s identified in the Islamic fashion and arts sector. She has made historic deals with global retailers, fashion weeks, events, and media to open immense doors for the industry players that were only open to mainstream fashion players until now. She has spearheaded partnerships with key entities around the world to develop an unprecedented global network now well known as IFDC. This, along with the creation of IFDC’s brands like Pret-A-Cover™ a new shopping category not unlike Pret-A-Porter, couture, or active wear, as well as Cover Magazine™, Business of Modest Fashion and Design events (most recent being the revolutionary Pret-A-Cover™ Buyers Lane), IFDC Pop-Up Design Schools, Modest Man™, iDez™ arts and design, the Modest Channel™, and more are among the many initiatives that makes Alia’s vision revolutionary for the Islamic/modest fashion and design industry.
Pioneering Work: Pret-A-Cover™ In addition to founding IFDC, Alia Khan has masterminded the development of the revolutionary Pret-A-Cover™ category, which allows stores to offer a dedicated section which allows them to better cater to the valuable modest fashion, arts, and lifestyle consumer. This dedicated store category offers the valuable market a much needed ease in shopping. It also is a term that marks a special reference point for this industry that was not available before. Now the press, academia, industry lingo, and general vocabulary can make use of this term to specifically refer to this vast lifestyle market more appropriately. Hence, the Pret-A-Cover™term allows the industry to move away from the traditional use of the word ‘modest’, which often is criticized as not the best word to describe this category since it could evoke an idea of restriction and possibly lack of appeal. The new Pret-A-Cover™ term will allow the $420 billion (as of 2018) industry to be interpreted in ways that will better reflect the category’s true nature and release it from pre conditioned interpretations.
Pret-A-Cover™ celebrates how this industry has evolved, as it progresses to wider communities, allowing consumers all over the world the freedom to define what Pret-A-Cover™means to them. In the same spirit as the classic French, Prêt-à-Porter category, quite literally meaning 'Ready-to-Wear', Pret-A-Cover™simply means ‘Ready-to-Cover’. The words “Pret A”, ready (or willing) to, confirms there is a choice in this lifestyle for everyone; it is not imposed on any person nor was it ever intended to by any of its faith based guidelines. The word “Cover” suggests a type of protection and applies to all areas, whether it’s by clothing on your body, by ‘good for you’ halal make-up on your skin, by higher standard food for your health, by better financial practices for your living, and so much more. The choice and protection comes with the beauty of the more moderate lifestyle that Pret-A-Cover™celebrates, be it in ones interpretation of fashion, art, finances, food, etc, is that it empowers people to make these choices that are in-line with their faith based values, principals, or personal ideology of a more moderate approach to all areas of life. This choice affords a personal best to those that observe these basic principles. This is a term for the entire industry and all stakeholders, be they consumers, retailers, suppliers, services, governments, events, market researchers, designers, artists, developers, and incubator programs as well as training, consultation and management programs.
Pret-A-Cover™Buyers Lane Produced by the Pret-A-Cover™creator, Alia Khan, the first Pret-A-Cover™ event, Pret-A-Cover™Buyers Lane (PAC BL) was launched in City Walk, Dubai in March 2018 under the support of Dubai government’s Islamic Economy Development Center and key sponsors including SILVERbac, the leading textile fiber technology; Burgundy & Zoq, the prominent events and interiors group, Artist Playground by Pullman, the unique art hub initiated by the leading hotel chain Pullman Hotels;, Grazia Magazine, Aston Martin, Emirates Airlines, Careem, Harper’s Bazaar, and more leading supporting partners.
Dubbed as the ‘anti-fashion week’ for breaking away from the traditional catwalk, instead applying innovative use of 25 projectors and screens ranging from projection mapping to holographic water screens to LED and more - all to showcase designer and lifestyle brands including arts, interiors, and other modest living ideas in an outstanding manner. The idea behind Pret-A-Cover™Buyers Lane is to yield an audience experience and creative journey unlike any other.
This does not always mean that technology is our only way to generate an outstanding experience at this one of a kind event. The most important drive is to always demonstrate a built in dedication to use an out of the box approach to generate more commercial interest for the participants and give them better business viability through new strategies.
The launch event of PACBL brought together over 35 international fashion designers, artists, and stakeholders all focused on breaking into or further engaging the vast spending power of the Pret-A-Cover™global audience. It proved to be a mesmerizing experience for buyers, fashion aficionados, art lovers, influencers, media, industry suppliers, general audiences and more and was the talk of most major press titles in every corner of the world.
Through an innovative format, the event challenged conventional fashion and lifestyle shows by providing the designers, artists, and lifestyle players with an outlet for creating impact through a vision that’s their very own. Not forcing them into any compartment, the refreshing approach to expression of their message is the hook that rendered results in brand engagement.
Here is a list of the Pret-A-Cover™ services provided by IFDC: Pret-A-Cover™ Events Pret-A-Cover™ Retail Placement Pret-A-Cover™ Research Studies Pret-A-Cover™ Industry Training Pret-A-Cover™ Market Consultations Pret-A-Cover™ Retail Management Program Media Platforms: Press Partners, Portal, The Modest Channel, Cover Magazine™, Etc.
Alia has had the privilege of working with experts from around the world and is a recognized industry expert and speaker and has also partnered with top business forums, conferences, and events including London School of Economics, Women In Leadership Summit, M Powered Summit, World Islamic Economic Forum, Turin Islamic Economic Forum, Bosphorus Summit, Dubai Shopping Festival, MOCA fellows, International Textile Fair, Dubai government’s Halal Seminar, French Fashion Institute Esmod, Global Islamic Economy Summit, Jakarta Fashion Week, Malaysia Fashion Week, Leadership Summit, Arab Luxury World, Asia Islamic Fashion Week, Torino Fashion Week, Fashion Revolution, Al Sharq Forum, among other government and private events.
Media Presence: Alia has been featured in multiple global publications including Thomson Reuters GIES Report, EuroMonitor’s Halal Fashion and Arts booklets, Elle Magazine, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, CEO Magazine, Start Up Magazine, Arabian Business Magazine, The National, Aquila Style Magazine, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, Drapers, Style.com influencer list, CNN, CBS MoneyWatch, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, Hia, Fast Money, she has been featured in Christian Louboutin’s ad campaigns as well as covered in academic research, papers, and books published on the Islamic economy and more.
References[edit]
• https://www.thenational.ae/business/day-in-the-life-ifdc-founder-is-leading-voice-for-islamic-fashion-1.636023 • https://www.tfwofficial.com/alia-khan/ • https://dubaifashionnews.com/dfn-podcast-alia-khan-modest-fashion-how-ifdc-operates/ • http://mackenziejones.com/blog/article/alia-khan-future-of-the-ifdc/ • https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-multibillion-dollar-modest-fashion-industry-thats-gone-global • https://www.fastcompany.com/40559445/these-startups-nailed-muslim-fashion-burberry-and-dkny-did-not • https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/fashion/the-news/louboutin-taps-into-seven-women-from-the-uae-for-anniversary-campaign • https://www.arabianbusiness.com/lists/50-most-influential-women-in-the-arab-world • http://www.graziame.com/style/fashion/meet-the-woman-ripping-up-the-modest-wear-rule-book • https://www.elle.com/culture/a23546483/contemporary-muslim-fashions-exhibit-review/ • http://www.arabnews.com/node/1273751/fashion
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