Indonesia has struggled to penetrate the global modest fashion market. A heavy focus on its large domestic market and lack of attention to exports had caused the country to perform poorly. E-commerce companies fail to pay designers. Unethical event organizers ask clients to pay upfront for a show, than fail to deliver. Indonesian designers are often unable to follow through when it comes to fulfilling orders. Products are sometimes rejected because they fall short on quality, with sloppy workmanship such as poorly finished seams and stitches among the most common complaints. Indonesian designers do branding and don't focus too much on selling. Indonesian designers are unable to scale up output to meet growing overseas demand.

Established textile manufacturers are more interested in mass production than producing smaller runs of designer clothes. Highly skilled seamstresses are scarce. Indonesian designers typically focus on ethnic wear and bold colors, which although appreciated by the domestic market often don’t resonate with customers in more conservative Middle Eastern countries, or with those in Muslim-minority western nations who don't want to stand out from the crowd more than they do already.

Modest fashion can be worn for religious or cultural reasons, or by women who just prefer to dress conservatively.