Research
My research examines how fashion and dress connect everyday life with wider questions of culture, identity, politics and markets. My work spans contemporary consumer cultures, historical dress and the relationships between craft, heritage and livelihoods.
Research areas
Fashion, faith and identity
How clothing and consumption shape belonging, distinction and self-expression. My work explores religious identities, gender and political meanings through contemporary fashion practices and historical dress.
Consumer cultures and markets
How markets are shaped by the cultural contexts in which people live, shop and work. My research considers fashion consumption, diaspora communities, retail cultures and the movement of brands across markets.
Craft, heritage and sustainability
How craft is produced, valued and represented, and what this means for the people whose livelihoods depend on it. I explore the relationships between cultural heritage, market participation, sustainability and equity.
Selected research projects
Crafting Sustainability and Equitability: Reconstructing Pasts and Futures in the Indian Creative Economy
2024–2027 · Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
This collaborative project examines sustainability and equity in India’s creative economy, with a focus on handicrafts and textiles. It explores the relationships between cultural heritage, production, livelihoods and markets, alongside opportunities for UK–India knowledge exchange.
Faith and Fashion in the South Asian Muslim Diaspora: Identity, Decoloniality and Consumption in Glasgow
2022–2023 · Funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh
This project explored clothing practices, consumption and identity among South Asian Muslim communities in Glasgow. It considered how fashion and retail spaces contribute to belonging and community making in a diasporic context.
Selected publications
Faith and Fashion in Turkey: Consumption, Politics and Islamic Identities
Nazlı Alimen · I.B. Tauris / Bloomsbury · 2018
An exploration of the relationships between faith, consumption and identity in Turkey, examining how clothing and everyday practices connect religious belonging with wider social and political contexts.
Religious Ritual and Sociopolitical Ideologies: Circumcision Costumes in the Turkish Marketplace
Nazlı Alimen and Søren Askegaard · International Journal of Fashion Studies · 2020
A study connecting ritual clothing with the religious, political and commercial meanings circulating in the Turkish marketplace.
Manu Atelier: A Turkish Brand in the ‘Top’ Fashion Fields
Nazlı Alimen · In Fashion & Luxury Marketing · 2022
A case study exploring how a Turkish brand gained recognition in international fashion markets.
Consuming and Retailing Fashion: South Asian Diaspora Negotiating Clothing Practices, Identities, and Community Making in Glasgow
Rohit K. Dasgupta and Nazlı Alimen · Social Identities · 2024
An examination of fashion consumption and retailing as sites of identity negotiation and community making in Glasgow.
Stitching Tradition and Fashion: The Evolution of Ottoman Women’s Ferâces, from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century
Nazlı Alimen · Dress · 2025
A historical study of Ottoman women’s ferâces, tracing changes in dress in relation to fashion and social context.