Indo-Western Fusion Deep Purple Abaya Dress

Subcontinental Asia - India

Indo-Western Fusion Deep Purple Abaya Dress

Sizes: 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL, 6XL.

Opacity: 3

Sleeve: Fixed

Elasticity: There is no elasticity in this polyester man-made fabric. However, this fabric does move with the wearer and does not pull uncomfortably against the body when you move.

India is one of the largest producers of clothing in the world. With their massive domestic population and their well established traditional clothing styles, they are also major designers of clothes both at home and internationally. The Indians have a history to support this international trade. Specifically, while their own Muslim population is a minority, at approximately 20% of the Indian population of more than 1 billion people, it is still a larger population of Muslims than most Muslim majority countries. As such, the Indians have long been producing clothes for their own Muslim population that are happily worn in Muslim majority countries. Likewise, the Indians have a close history with the West and particularly the British as a result of British colonialism. As such, the Indian market has a long and well established history of producing Western style clothes for this Western market.

In this garment, we see these three major international clothing traditions combined. The pattern on this dress is classically Indian, with the central feature of a mandala and the extensive use of paisley designs in bright colours. The silhouette of the dress is in the style of an abaya, which elongates the body and is worn loose enough for clothes to be worn under it. However the dark saturated purple colour and the target market for this dress is the West, in line with Western interest in Boho design and other traditions that incorporate ethnic styles and designs in familiar and colours that are saturated but slightly darker than those common in Indian and Africa for example. And just to add a final layer of internationalism to this dress, while Indian by design, it was actually manufactured in China, the other internationally dominant clothing producing nation. And yes, this garment was produced in a legitimate clothing factory, not a sweat shop. We always check the credentials of our suppliers.

But overall, we must credit India for this and other Indo-Western fusion fashions that are so incredibly popular all around the world. And we love the way the Middle Eastern influence has also been tied into this specific dress. This abaya-dress is just a joy to own and wear, and one that just makes you feel happy whenever you have it on. It’s the embodiment of the sharing and mixing of textile art traditions and represents the immense beauty possible when clothing is about design rather than revealing the body beneath it! We could not love this dress more.

Garment Measurement in centimetres (bust, length)

2XL - 118, 137

3XL - 124, 139

4XL - 130, 141

5XL - 136, 143

6XL - 142, 145