Final Fitting Reza Haeri

"People follow their leaders", says a Qur’anic verse. According to Mr. Arabpour, this means that whatever dress the leaders wear, all do the same. Nowadays, they all wear labadehs (modern robes). Mr. Arabpour should know what the leaders wear: a tailor in his eighties, he is the proprietor of the most famous tailor shop in Qom, a holy city of the Shiite muslims with one of the biggest religious schools.

An Iranian film by Reza Haeri, Final Fitting gives the stage to the tailor master, who tells anecdotes from the path of his 58-year-long career and presents the current fashions in traditional costumes. Fashion is a delicate matter in Iran, where women cover their hair and body in hijabs whereas menswear is much freer, at least when it comes to the ordinary people - for men in religious or political positions there is an important dress code.

Long abbas (robes) and ammamehs (turbans) are a must. Although nowadays seminar students are allowed to have a watch on their wrist, they can wear trousers (some even wear jeans), and their hair can be shown from underneath their turbans. Mr. Arabpour explains that even the traditional dresses adjust to the current time: the latest designed labadehs have plenty of pockets for all the necessary accessories, such as mobile phones.

During his career Mr. Arabpour has tailored for the most important Iranian religious leaders: from the late Ayatollah Khomeini to the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as the former president Mohammad Khatami. This has merited him an international clientele as well. Through the portrayal of one person, Final Fitting talks about Islamic customs and their delicate, yet reformist changes. Small, but interesting.

Lasse Lecklin