"...Hussein Chalayan, a Turkish Cypriot designer, based in England, also says that it is important to understand that 'not a single person is covered' in his native Cyprus and very few in Turkey, the country of his roots. He says that folkloric scarves, such as Yemeni florals, are mistakenly read in Europe as an Islamic religious statement.
Yet Chalayan is one of the rare designers to have confronted the issue of covering up in a landmark collection eight years ago. He showed women totally covered and then with the body revealed in varying stages, until only the veil remained. But he says that show was more about 'how you define your territory,' referring to a divided Cyprus, than a political statement about women."
More:The new sobriety: Covering up the body - Style - International Herald Tribune
