Source: Think Fashion and Red Connect. Dubai’s first-ever Modest Fashion Week ends on a high note.
Following on from successful series in Istanbul, Turkey and London, UK, the first Dubai Modest Fashion Week(DMFW) saw global faces of modest fashion, award-winning designers and VIPs flock to one of the world's biggest modest fashion movements.
The two-day style event that took place 8-9 December saw established and emerging designers from over 20 countries take part in 40 fashion shows, with 50 brand booths, workshops and talks, fashion and art exhibitions attended by 100 celebrities and influencers, from HE Sheikha Hend Faisal Al Qassemi, Arab superstars Diana Haddad, Hisham El Hajj to Bollywood diva Gauahar Khan.
The event lineup included high-end designers Rasit Bagzibagli, Muslima
Wear and Selma Sari, famous modest fashion designers Safiya Abdallah of
Dulce by Safiya, Zaskia Sungkar, Norma Hauri, Ria Miranda and ETU, as
well as ready-to-wear collections from Annah Hariri and bridal wear by
Miss Ayshe. Huw Roman Tokyo (Japan), Fllumae (US), Mizaan (Germany),
Yours Truly (Canada), Sumayya & SSS (Indonesia), Zeina Ali (Jordan),
aere (Malaysia), and Anotah (Kuwait) also made appearances.
DMFW is organised by Think Fashion (led by Franka Soeria and Ozlem Sahin) and Red Connect (led by Arif Ebrahim).
Source: FashionValet website. FashionValet's Raya imagery this year is reminiscent of hand-drawn artwork of kampung scenes in rural Malaysia. The Raya 2017 page is very popular.
FashionValet, Malaysia’s online fashion store, has unveiled a Raya looks for 2017 that revisit traditions and roots.
"This year, FashionValet travels back in time to the idyllic kampung way of life set in the late 1950s—with the heavy use of monochromatic illustrations—synonymous with the reality of kampung boy*, in the name of keeping traditions alive," the company says on its Raya 2017 page.
The e-marketplace offers ready-to-wear garments for women, accessories and handbags from the best of Malaysia’s home-grown brands and designers.
Source: FashionValet Raya 2017 page. A wide range of Raya clothing from different designers is on offer.
Source: aab website. Banner for the Ramadan Collection.
Fashion marketplace aab has readied a Ramadhan collection full of flowing long silhouettes and silk hijabs. Inspired by art and architecture, the Ramadan Collection includes loose jumpsuits, abayas and kimonos in pastels and rich jewel tones.
The aab interface is particularly comprehensive. Mousing over pictures provides alternative looks for the clothing, and there are sections for details and care as well as suggestions on how to complete the look.
Aab, the name is derived from the Persian name for water. Aab garments that take into account simplicity, style and comfort and are designed to be interchangeable to create an entire wardrobe that goes from day to evening, weekday to weekend, season to season.
Uniqlo and fashion designer Hana Tajima have launched the 2017 spring/summer collection in Singapore and Malaysia.
The Hana Tajima Lifewear collection is exclusive to Uniqlo and is inspired by the relationship between movement and form while echoing Tajima's Japanese roots and English upbringing.
The collection features elegant, contemporary styles that are both versatile and comfortable. Pieces include long flowing skirts, tapered ankle-length pants, loose-fitting blouses, kebaya and hijab. Solid colours dominate, particular dark colours and shades of brown.
Source: MAX. MAX fashion for men, women and kids is on sale.
The Landmark Group's fashion brand MAX is offering up to 50% off in India on over 60,000 products from a collection that features the season's hottest trends across clothing, accessories and footwear for the entire family.
In India, MAX has more than 145 stores across 55 cities. The brand plans to have a network of 160 stores in India by the end of FY16-17.
Interested?
The sale ends January 22 2017. Enjoy 5% additional cash back using an SBI credit card with a minimum transaction of INR2,500.
Estimated to be worth over US$230 billion worldwide, the modest fashion industry grew out of Islamic traditional wear, and has since been reimagined by designers and influencers from Muslim as well as non-Muslim cultures across the globe.
“Modest fashion is easily the fastest-growing trend in the global fashion industry, and in recent years, world-renowned fashion labels such as D&G, DKNY, H&M, Zara and many more have awoken to the opportunities that exist in this space. This has been further bolstered by the rise of social media and the emergence of several global fashion influencers from traditional Islamic markets such as the GCC. Today, we are seeing a confluence of these – labels are looking to work with Middle Eastern and Islamic fashion influencers, and more and more customers are looking to Influencers and brands to fulfil their need for fashion trends and designer labels, but within the Islamic context,” said Ritu Upadhyay, Middle East Correspondent of Women’s Wear Daily, who moderated a panel on the topic at Global Islamic Economy Summit 2016.
Panelist Soha Taha, a modest fashion influencer from Egypt and the UAE with over 187,000 followers on Instagram, recently started her own fashion label and online store to fulfil customer demands globally. She says that this was a natural move considering the unique requirements of the modest fashion consumer.
“The need for modest fashion among Muslim women gave rise to an all-new industry, and social media became the platform through which I could share my take on the latest trends and instantly communicate with those who valued my opinion. Followers became buyers, and today I receive orders from and deliver to more than 75 countries around the world,” said Soha.
Turkey-based global modest fashion e-commerce store Modanisa.com gets more than 9 million visitors a month, and carries more than 45 designers and 300 brands. Kerim Ture, Founder of Modanisa.com said: “This sector has been seeing a strong upward trend since we began in 2011, and we have even created the Istanbul Modest Fashion Week as a response to this trend. Even with the groundswell, we believe that this is a largely untapped sector, and we are currently serving only 4% of the addressable market. Whether it is fashion in daily wear or for special occasions, the modest fashion consumer looks to us and to influencers to bring them options, and we also play a key role in creating awareness around specific culturally unique trends that may not be seen elsewhere.”
Social mMedia platforms have emerged as the communications media of choice, as influencers and brands are able to engage with the consumer in real-time. This has also created a community of like-minded individuals. During instances such as the recent ‘burkini ban’ debate in France, this community saw strong support from Muslims and non-Muslims around the world, and both Soha and Ture reported increased sales in response to this sociopolitical issue.
Instagram and Snapchat were touted as the best platforms to engage with the modest fashion enthusiast community, and video content sees the most engagement when it comes to proactive content sharing from brands and sellers. This content includes designers and influencers sharing thoughts on designs, fabric, and patterns, as well as ‘how to’ videos to demonstrate the correct wearing of scarves and gowns to young girls or non-Muslim consumers.
“An influencer in this niche area needs to find their authentic voice and style, and not be afraid to change or experiment. Modest fashion need not come from only modest designers, but can actually be created by understanding the core concepts and mixing-and-matching from anywhere,” said Soha.
Modanisa.com is looking to brick-and-mortar as the next stage of their evolution. “We have built our community of more than 2 million followers on Facebook and 25 million views on YouTube, and are now looking at reaching our customers through a chain of retail stores. We have begun in Turkey, and will be bringing these stores across the region in the near-term,” said Karim.
Interested?
Modanisa tracks the latest fashion trends on its YouTube channel (Turkish). At the time of writing the channel had nearly 46,000 subscribers.
AL FAIZAN, a thobe specialist, has a Ramadhan promotion on. The brand, created by two brothers to offer an alternative to standard generic, low-cost low-quality and inconsistent-fitting pieces for Islamic menswear, ships free worldwide.
Just follow @alfaizanthobe on Twitter or @AlFaizan on Instagram to be in the running for a thobe of choice. One winner will be picked every week during Ramadhan.
Source: AL FAIZAN website. The Ramadhan collection.
AL FAIZAN's clothing is designed to keep things minimalistic with practical modern twists. Its Ramadhan collection (£49.99 each) includes:
The 2016 Business Standard is positioned between formalwear and casual wear. With the sleeves buttoned down and the placket zipped up, it is a formal classic; with the sleeves up and the collar buttoned up, it becomes a casual thobe.
2016 Business Oxford blue/white A sky blue thobe complete with white contrasting buttons. With the button-down collar, buttoned breast pocket and pleated hook on the rear, this thobe has all the details one would expect of an Oxford shirt.
2016 Business Penny cream/brown A cream thobe complete with white contrasting piping, introduced in response to requests for the colour combination. This piece features contrast brown piping along the penny collar and the cuff. A button-down feature has been added to increase the formal appeal.
FLOW, the Malaysia fashion label, has introduced a Raya collection with the signature silhouettes and embellishments that it is known for.
The collection features a number of brightly coloured long-sleeved and three-quarter sleeved tops and dresses, and bold prints. There are also two pairs of pants. The is a black front twist overlap blouse (S$56.30) and a fuchsia long-sleeved overlap blouse (S$46.30) are the most intriguing pieces in the collection.
According to the website, FLOW's founders introduced the label for curvy women whose fashion options were usually a "sack-like excuse for clothing". "A few more inches in our bust or hips shouldn’t mean we lose all shape in the clothes we wear. On the contrary our curves are more defined and so our fashion should be more structured," the brand states. "Clothing that allows us to express who we are under the surface."
The company offers comfortable apparel ranging from casual and contemporary to evening and seasonal wear, in a selection of sizes from US10 to US18.
Shipping is free.
Naelofar Hijab has just released the Duchess (RM83) and Stella (RM99) hijab collections.
Duchess, launched first, is a semi-instant loop-type hijab made of heavy chiffon that has a triangular Swarovski crystal hotfix embellishment.
Named 'Stella', Latin for 'star' because of the crystal and hotfix Swarovski pearl cluster on the hijab, Stella is a semi-instant garment loop-type that is made of Korean chiffon. Crystal pearls by Swarovski have a crystal core and are both washable as well as anti-scratch. Two more collections, named Camellia and Sonia, are yet to come.
The Neelofa perfume (RM55) was launched at the same time. The scent begins with sweet top notes that after transforms into strawberry and blackberry in an hour, with hints of musk, rose and floral tones. The perfume will last more than five hours, according to the company.
The company has also uploaded its Raya campaign for 2016 onto YouTube. The video, titled Allah Lebih Tahu (Allah knows), has gratitude and faith as its theme. Zalora Malaysia has additionally created a holiday video for Naelofar.
Naelofar Hijab was founded by Neelofa and her partners, who decided to revolutionise and simplify modest fashion with an 'instant' shawl. There are more than 100 stockists in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. Neelofa currently has two other labels - Nalelofar Abaya and Lofalens, fashionable contact lenses.
SHUKR Islamic Clothing, a producer of modest and Islamic clothing for Muslims, has recently announced its summer collection, which displays the beauty of Islam in different seasons.
Source: SHUKR International edition website. Summer dresses.
SHUKR serves people of all religions who find that their faith encourages them to dress modestly, without having to sacrifice style and beauty. Over the years, the brand has attracted a loyal customer base of people searching for long sleeved shirts, long dresses, abayas, skirts and wide leg jeans—which can be difficult to find in mainstream clothing stores. "We’re very proud to be an Islamic clothing provider, and it is our hope that our customers will be proud to be dressed Islamically as well,” said Anas Sillwood, Managing Partner of SHUKR.
In addition to a summer collection, SHUKR also provides different collections throughout the year – spring, fall, winter and Ramadan/Eid (holiday) included. Said Sillwood: "It’s a perfect way to help distinguish ourselves from competition and brand ourselves as a religious Islamic brand with a contemporary, relevant, and sophisticated air.”
Interested?
SHUKR's e-commerce store serves its customers through its three regional websites, for the US, UK, and the rest of the world (international). The Summer/Eid catalogue can be requested through the home page
Babyshop's Ramadan Collection 2015 is now in the stores, with the theme of 'warm colours'. The store, which offers clothing toys and furniture for children from newborns to teens of 16, also caters to mothers and moms-to-be. Babyshop carries brands like Disney, Ferrari and Fisher Price, and also has two in-house brands, Juniors and Giggles.
Interested? Babyshop stores can be found in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, KSA, Kuwait, Jordan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Yemen among other countries.
SHUKR Islamic Clothing, a leading producer of modest and Islamic clothing with e-marketplaces for the US, UK and internationally, recently launched its autumn/winter collection of modest fashion. The company says abayas will continue to be top sellers, along with kufis (Islamic hats), tunics, and long skirts.
“SHUKR is inspired by the beauty of Islamic modesty, and we take pride in sharing that inspiration with our customers and the Muslim community around the world,” said Anas Sillwood, Managing Partner, SHUKR Islamic Clothing.
SHUKR provides long sleeved shirts, long skirts, and wide legged jeans as well as abayas, long, loose-fitting dresses.
