As street style stars do their best to outdress one another this New York Fashion Week, preening and posing outside of Lincoln Center, fashionistas halfway around the world are quietly turning heads and changing minds about the nature of style.
I've been aware of Iran's youth culture for years, of women challenging the boundaries of what's appropriate, letting their headscarves slip back just another inch or two or pushing the limits in torn skinny jeans. Despite these glimpses of a thoroughly modern culture and despite the country's cosmopolitan past, these photos from The Tehran Times will still surprise most Westerners (myself included). Even the most liberal-minded of us can use a reminder now and then that some things are universal — style included.
