SAN FRANCISCO — The de Young Museum here has drawn big crowds before with shows on Oscar de la Renta, Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent. But for its next big fashion extravaganza, the museum is entering new territory — and moving from gowns to hijabs, the head scarves worn by many Muslim women. The museum’s new director, Max Hollein, has scheduled “The Fashion of Islam,” the first major show developed since his arrival, for the fall of 2018.

In Australia, the traveling show “Faith, Fashion, Fusion” recently explored the market for “modest fashion.” Otherwise, few museums have touched the topic.

“There are probably people who don’t even think there is fashion in Islam,” Mr. Hollein said. “But if you look at Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Beirut, the fashion is really vibrant, and it can speak to larger political and social developments, cultural understanding and misunderstandings.”

Mr. Hollein’s idea is to approach the subject from different perspectives, examining how Islamic styles are shaped by seemingly polar opposites: religious beliefs, which seek to avoid any appearance of extravagance and arrogance, or calling attention to oneself, and global fashion trends.