By Dave Burke
Non-Muslims in France have been buying up burkinis in a sign of solidarity, the creator of the beachwear has revealed.
Yesterday the country’s top administrative court, the Council of State, suspended a controversial ban following widespread condemnation.
Australian creator Aheda Zanetti said sales of burkinis have gone up massively – with a large proportion of people buying them being non-Muslim.
She said: ‘It’s just been so hectic. I can tell you that online on Sunday, we received 60 orders — all of them non-Muslim.’
That’s compared to 10 to 12 orders on a regular Sunday.
Aheda Zanetti said there has been a surge in sales (Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images)
And lots of women have written to Zanetti saying why they like the designs, which cover a woman’s head and body.
She said: ‘A lot of the correspondence was that they are survivors of skin cancer and they’ve always been looking for something like this, saying, “Thank god we’ve found someone like this producing such a swimsuit.”‘
‘The support I’m getting is somehow about empowering women… I feel like I’ve been a counsellor.’
Many towns in France banned the burkini (Picture: Vantage)
Shocking photos circulated earlier in the week showed a woman on a beach in Nice being ordered to remove her top by four armed officers.
After removing her top, the photographer later revealed, the woman was handed a fine. Then both she and the officers left the beach.
The images sparked international outrage, and protests were held in major cities around the world – including a ‘wear what you want beach party’ outside the French embassy in London.
Source: Metro
