Indonesia Has Strategic Opportunity to Become Global Fashion Industry Hub
Jakarta — Indonesia’s Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has stated that Indonesia possesses strategic opportunities to become a global centre for the fashion industry, particularly modest fashion, given the substantial potential of the global market and the strength of the domestic industrial ecosystem.
In remarks made in Jakarta on Friday, the Minister noted that the growing Muslim population worldwide has had a significant impact on the growth of the Muslim fashion industry market, also known as modest fashion.
The rapid flow of information on social media has also, according to him, made trends in modest fashion consumption more inclusive and no longer limited solely to Muslim consumers.
According to the State of Global Islamic Economy Report 2024/2025, global Muslim fashion consumption reached $327 billion in 2023 and is projected to increase to $433 billion by 2028.
The domestic modest fashion industry’s export potential in the global market has also shown promising results, particularly given that exports of the sector to countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reached $990 million in 2023.
“This figure represents an increase of 83 per cent compared to 2022, which reached only $540 million, making Indonesia the seventh highest exporter to OIC countries,” the Minister said.
Nevertheless, countries exporting fashion products to OIC member states are still dominated by China, Turkey and India.
“Indonesia has the potential to become one of the main players in the global modest fashion industry with a labour-intensive industrial sector,” he said.
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency, in 2024 the number of small clothing manufacturing industries stands at 594,000 with a workforce reaching 1.2 million workers.
“Modest fashion has now evolved into a global fashion trend that is not only favoured by Muslim communities, but also by various groups across different cultures and lifestyles,” the Minister added.
Indonesia, he said, possesses significant potential to become the global centre of modest fashion, supported by the creativity of local designers, cultural richness, and the diversity of high-quality textile materials that represent the nation’s identity.