Beauty & Fashion

Danish designer puts on fashion show protesting burka ban

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CAPTION CORRECTS THE GARMENTS - Models display creations by Iranian born designer Reza Etamadi during a MUF10 fashion show in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018. An Iranian-born fashion designer has stolen the limelight at a fashion show when showcasing models in niqabs and dressed as police officers appeared on the catwalk as part of his collection themed around women wearing face veil, days after a new law banning such garments in public places entered into force. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

(Picture: Ritzau Scanpix)

After Denmark passed a law to ban Muslim women from wearing niqabs and burkas in public, designer Reza Etamadi decided to get political.

The Danish fashion designer, who was born in Iran, put on an emphatic display during Copenhagen Fashion Week, featuring models wearing headscarves and veils.

Models advertised new lines for streetwear brand MUF10 while wearing traditional Muslim dress.

The runaway show came days after the law came into effect which will penalise those who wear it.

Punishments include first offence fines of more than £100 which can reach up to £1,200 with a potential jail sentence of six months.

CAPTION CORRECTS THE GARMENTS - Models display creations by Iranian born designer Reza Etamadi during a MUF10 fashion show in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018. An Iranian-born fashion designer has stolen the limelight at a fashion show when showcasing models in niqabs and dressed as police officers appeared on the catwalk as part of his collection themed around women wearing face veil, days after a new law banning such garments in public places entered into force. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

(Picture: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

I have a duty to support all womens freedom of speech and freedom of thought, he told AP.

In Iran where I was born, women fight to freely choose what to wear. In Denmark, where I grew up, women were free to choose how dressed or covered they wanted to dress.

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I have no unanimous attitude toward the ban in general but I have a principle: No man should decide what women should wear.

The show also featured models playing police officers and one female officer passing a flower to a veiled woman to show support.

Two masked men could also be seen sitting on the ground in handcuffs next to the policemen.

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Many Danish people opposed the ban and protested on the streets at the beginning of the month despite risking fines.

Austria, France and Belgium also have similar bans.

Fotis Filippou, Amnesty Internationals deputy Europe director, explained the devastating consequences the laws are going to have on Muslim women.

Whilst some specific restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils for the purposes of public safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither necessary nor proportionate and violates womens rights to freedom of expression and religion, he said.

More protests are expected to take place.

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