By Katie Silver<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A magazine for the modern, fashion-conscious Muslim woman is proving that when it comes to Turkey, you don’t need bikinis, breasts and legs to sell issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outraged when he saw photos of transsexuals in a magazine, devout Muslim Ibrahim Burak Birer, 31 decided to create a magazine in Istanbul that would contest the \u2018diktat of nudity\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With his friend Mehmet Volkan Atay, 32, he created Al\u00e2, a magazine described as the avant-garde of \u2018veiled\u2019 fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe first issue: Released in June, Al\u00e2 has been described as the ‘Vogue of veiled fashion’. It appeals to the modern, education, fashion-conscious Muslim woman<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The magazine only shows women in headscarves<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al\u00e2, which is Turkish for \u2018the most beautiful of the beautiful\u2019, only shows models in headscarves and will only advertise clothing that conforms to Islamic customs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Cosmopolitan, Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire, it’s all about sex and naked skin,\u2019 says Mr Birer. \u2018The motto is that sex sells. But we, and millions of women around the world, believe that fashion can also be different.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite having only six issues under their belt, the magazine has been so successful that they have needed to increase circulation multiple times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The magazine now has a circulation of 30,000 with some 5,000 subscriptions are sent abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We had no experience with magazines before that. We’re marketing people,\u2019 Mr Atay told SpiegelOnline. \u2018We specialised in recognising market niches.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1,500 of the subscriptions are sent to Germany alone where the magazine has a big following amongst devout Turkish migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, entrepreneurial Mr Birer and Mr Atay said they could definitely foresee coming out with a German Al\u00e2 in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The magazine has been very successful with a circulation of 30,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And not just a Muslim product, it would be marketed to all females since the \u2018battle against nudity\u2019 is important to all women, Mr Birer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Bollywood on board: Finnair cabin crew become YouTube sensation with dance routine<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selling for 9 lira, or \u00a33.20, it has been described as \u2018the Vogue of the veiled\u2019 by German magazine Radikal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atay and Birer have found a product for an increasingly prevalent part of Muslim society: the educated, fashion-focused woman with disposable income who still believes in wearing the veil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creating the magazine: Mr Brier and Mr Atay attribute their success to finding an untapped market<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creating the magazine: Mr Brier and Mr Atay attribute their success to finding an untapped market. Their backgrounds are in marketing, not magazine publishing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosmopolitan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scarlett Johansson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Birer was fed up of the ‘dikat of nudity’ in found in others women’s magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Vogue<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the men have faced objections from their own camp with one theologian complaining that women should be submissively behind rather than putting themselves forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018That’s not our understanding of Islam,\u2019 says Mr Atay. \u2019We don’t believe that women should hide themselves. Even the veiled have a right to stylish fashion.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
via Al\u00e2: Turkish fashion magazine created for women who wear headscarves | Mail Online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s Vogue for the veiled! Turkish fashion magazine created for women who wear headscarves By Katie Silver A magazine for the modern, fashion-conscious Muslim woman is proving that when it comes to Turkey, you don’t need bikinis, breasts and legs to sell issues. Outraged when he saw photos of transsexuals in a magazine, devout Muslim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2939],"tags":[7902,4257],"class_list":["post-50569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultureart","tag-ala","tag-headscarf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}