TEHRAN -- The secretary of the fashion and costume design festival has said that the event will give a boost to efforts to promote Islamic costume designs.

The festival has been organized to introduce people to costume designs that are appropriate for our Islamic Iranian culture, Abolfazl Mohammadkhani told reporters at a press conference on Monday.
Iran’s first fashion and costume design festival will be held at the Tehran Permanent International Fairground from December 22 to 26. It will have several sections: male, female and children clothes, and subsidiary textile industries.
He pointed to Iran’s rich historical background in textile design and technology saying that although it has regressed during recent years, the industry can still be promoted in Iran.
A section of the festival is dedicated to costume designers, researchers of professional journals and related software. Also, several workshops will be held on the sidelines of the festival, he added.
Sets of ornaments and jewelry will also go on display at the festival. It is a trend that unfortunately has been neglected in Iran for years, Mohammadkhani added.
A fashion show will also be held during the gala in which Iranian costumes will go on display. The show will have one interval for women and two intervals for men each day. There are fewer intervals for women than men since there are not many brands for women in Iran, he mentioned.
Turkey, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and some Southeast Asian countries will also take part at the festival.
“One can not expect a perfect festival since this is the first experience we have with it in Iran. We do need sponsorship from the private sector and also from government to promote it. We aim to make it an international event and to introduce it to world,” he mentioned.
“We are not authorized to sell anything specifically at the festival, but marketing is permitted and producers can take orders. Also, photography or filming is prohibited at the gala,” he mentioned.
Codes are allotted to the designs by members of jury to protect designers’ copyrights, he concluded