The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Big brands waking up to modest styles
LONDON » When Ruba Zai uploaded her first video online, the Netherlandsbased Afghan student just wanted to share with other Muslim girls and women how she styled her headscarf. She had no idea that her “hijab tutorials” would be an internet hit, watched by hundreds of thousands worldwide.
“I just couldn’t relate at all to the clothes you see in the mainstream brands,” she said from her home in Rotterdam. “When we first started talking about our style on social media, there was no interest in the fashion world in this group of people: ‘They’re just Muslims, why should we target them?’”
Big brands have been waking up to that call, and covered-up chic is a niche that’s slowly making its way into mainstream fashion. From exclusive designers to fast-fashion chains, retailers are trying to court millions of Muslim consumers — especially around the month of Ramadan, which started last week, when many Muslims buy new clothes and dress up. In 2014, U.S. fashion house DKNY was one of the first Western brands to launch a Ramadan collection aimed at wealthy Arab shoppers.
Since then several others have followed suit. Dolce&Gabbana has been selling a luxury collection of abayas — long, loose robe-like dresses — and matching headscarves since 2016 in the Middle East, Paris and London.
Earlier this year Nike became the first major brand to launch a “pro hijab,” a headscarf made in high-tech fabrics aimed at female Muslim athletes. Even Marks and Spencer, that stalwart British department store known for cardigans and practical shoes, launched a burkini — a full-body swimsuit — last summer.
But perhaps the most visible sign yet that mainstream fashion is embracing the Muslim market was when design houses Max Mara and Alberta Ferretti starred hijabwearing Somali-American model Halima Aden on their catwalks for Milan Fashion Week, one of the industry’s most prestigious events.
“Mainstream fashion is now talking about modest fashion as a thing. Ten years ago, if you were a brand coming from a religious background and tried to sell it in a department store, calling it a modest or Muslim brand would be a kiss of death,” said Reina Lewis, a professor at the London College of Fashion.
While the majority of those interested in covered-up fashion are young, cosmopolitan Muslim women, “the term ‘modesty’ emerged in the niche market as a useful one because it’s not faith-specific,” Lewis added.
“I know Christians and atheist friends who don’t cover their heads but they dress this way because that’s how they feel most comfortable, said Zai, the blogger.
Nazmin Alim, a designer who founded London-based modest fashion brand Aab a decade ago, says she used to have to buy fabric herself and visit a tailor to get smart work wear that still adhered to her faith’s modesty edicts.
“Long skirts may have a slit, tops may be sleeveless,” she said. “We understood then that, do you know what? The people who wanted this kind of clothing, they are hungry for it.”
This month, Alim’s collection of trendy jumpsuits, kimonos and kneelength hoodies is being sold at Debenhams, a British department store.
Zai and Alim maintain that it’s all about respecting individual choice.
“We all make choices — some people like to wear gothic, some people like what we’re offering,” Alim said. “I don’t see why anyone’s style should be singled out.”