CAIRO – Elegant and fashionable herself, Sofie, the Countess of Wessex, has spoken out in support of Muslim women who express their fashion sense while wearing Islamic veil and traditional clothes, including niqab or burqa.

“It’s very evident that Muslim women can be fashionable while also retaining their modesty… And it’s a great way of bringing people together, and saying, ‘Look, this is what we’re really like’,” the Countess said in an interview by women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar ahead of her 50th birthday.

The UK Royal, who is married to Prince Edward, has recently hosted an event at Windsor Castle, on behalf of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, where she met representatives from the Islamic Fashion Festival.

During this event, she offered an opportunity for ‘a number of designers to showcase their clothes’.

According to her, the event was a trial to dispel misconceptions about Muslim women.

It is “to try to use fashion to break down barriers and dispel the myths about Muslim women,” she said.

The Countess told the magazine women from the Islamic world could be stylish and modest at the same time.

“And what people forget is that underneath the burka and everything else, there is somebody who is probably wearing something really quite fashionable,” she said.

“But you don’t have to show a lot of flesh in order to be beautiful and stylish.’”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Modesty and religion are the cornerstones behind the fast-growing Islamic fashion industry, which is making a mark on runways from Indonesia and Dubai to Monte Carlo.

Islamic fashion is part of a growing appetite for Shari`ah-related industries and assets, ranging from finance to halal food.