Forget the stereotype image of Muslim women draped from head to toe in all-enveloping robes, or girls shrouded in modest white veils.
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, the Islamic hijab is hip, particularly among the rich and upwardly mobile.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A walk through upscale shopping malls like Plaza Senayan in the capital Jakarta is a real eye-opener.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Women are covering up, but with a dazzling array of chic, colorful and often body-hugging Islamic clothes, often complemented by the latest accessories.
Many smart department stores have opened separate sections for Islamic clothes and stores offer an assortment of magazines and books dedicated to design and Islamic dress for the modern woman.
"Islamic dress has gone upper class," says fashion designer Mira Aviva Zaki on the sidelines of her show at Jakarta's Hilton Hotel.
Although most Indonesians have long opted for a relatively liberal interpretation of the Muslim dress code, the basic rule of covering the body from head to toe still applies.
"But we have added more colors and styles," says Zaki.
And the latest styles are proving a real hit.
"For active Muslim women like me, I don't feel out of fashion any more because there are so many styles and colors to choose from," says banker Ani Mudiarti, her head swathed in bright orange.
Under former leader Suharto, who lost power in 1998 after 32 years of iron-fisted rule, Islamic dress was deemed unfashionable and carried a stigma of backwardness and militancy.
This largely stemmed from Suharto's fear of creating an alternative focus of power. A Muslim himself, he discouraged strong public displays of Islamic values, fearing a rise in fundamentalism.
Long regarded as a staunch defender of Javanese mysticism, for most of his tenure Suharto promoted pluralism, derived from the state ideology of
Pancasila.
As such, hijab was only incorporated in official uniform at public schools and government services in the early 1990s, at a time when Suharto -- in the twilight of his career -- was garnering all the support he could.
Prior to that, religious dress could result in expulsion from school, or losing your jobs at a government office.
"Like any other discrimination there was no specific rule banning the use of Islamic dress but social and political pressure was so high," recalled Tuti Herawati, managing editor of Alia magazine, a monthly publication specializing in Muslim fashion for women.
In 1990, when Suharto gave his blessing to the creation of an elite Muslim group openly dedicated to the Islamization of Indonesia, public perceptions of the hijab started to change.
Ironically it was Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, a business mogul and Suharto's eldest daughter, who helped to erode the negative public image after she decided to cover her head with loose scarves.
But the boom in the business of Muslim fashion came only after Suharto was forced to step down in the face of the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
"In the past two or three years, new designers have come up, especially at the middle to upper class boutiques. Every month there is always a new one," said Herawati, whose magazine has tripled its circulation since it was first launched last July.
Even glamor models are embracing Muslim clothes.
Inneke Koesherawati, a former pin-up girl who once posed for racy photographs for a glossy men's magazine, recalled the day she decided to cover up.
"I just came back from the Haj [visit to Mecca] and my body just didn't feel comfortable any more without being covered," said Koesherawati whose past movies such as Metropolitan Girls, Naughty Desires and The Stained Bed left little to the imagination.
Now Koesherawati insists those days are long gone.
"I don't feel old-fashioned, in fact I feel more cosmopolitan," she says. "Society has now grown more tolerant of Islamic dress."
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