Orlando Sentinel

Clothing designer fills Muslim women’s need

- By T.S. Jamusz

Long-sleeved ruffled shirts, wide-leg jumpsuits and an assortment of hijabs — all creations of former Daytona State College student Lisa Vogl — now are featured at Macy’s as part of the company’s first ever launch of a women’s modest clothing line.

To shoppers, they’re just clothes, but to Vogl they’re solutions.

Vogl, 35, lives in Orlando and is a practicing Muslim who chooses to dress conservati­vely in following her faith.

She said she often had to visit different stores in hopes of finding the right styles to layer to suit the modest tastes she preferred.

Rather than wait around for someone to fulfill her clothing needs, Vogl, along with Verona Collection co-founder Alaa Ammuss, launched the clothing line in 2015 at an Orlando boutique.

Her business was featured in an Orlando Sentinel story in 2016.

“There are millions of Muslim women here in the U.S., and there’s a lack of clothing that would work to meet our religious requiremen­ts as well as be fashionabl­e and affordable at the same time,” she said, adding that the clothes were for anyone seeking modest attire.

While the feedback at Macy’s has been largely positive, not everyone gave the product line a warm reception. Some took to social media to vent their frustratio­ns.

One Twitter user called for a boycott of Macy’s, writing, “And Stupid #Macy’s stores adds the oppressive islamic Hijab as a new fashion statement. ARE U KIDDING? While

 ?? ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Macy's Verona Collection offers modest dresses, tops, cardigans jumpsuits and hijabs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Macy's Verona Collection offers modest dresses, tops, cardigans jumpsuits and hijabs.

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