Iranian Fashion: Where the Catwalk Meets the Tightrope

"I'd be laughed off the street if I wore half this stuff," said Malih Rashid, a 19-year-old university student, eyeing the clothes on display at a recent fashion show. But it was not risqué Madonna-esque cone bras or bizarre geometric exposures that raised her eyebrows. Knee-length tunics paired with matching pants, long reversible silk coats, and flowing opera capes were among the raciest items sent down the runway last week at the first fashion show to be held in Tehran since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolutionaries ordered women to cover themselves. Flogging is still a legal penalty for flouting the Islamic dress code, and a prominent leftist cleric, Yusefi Eshkevari, faces the death sentence for, among other things, advocating optional hijab (Islamic head veiling). Full story...