Modest-wear: New frontier in high street fashion
Muslim fashion designers and influencers in UK are filling gaps that they have spotted in the market
(Web Desk) – High street fashion stores have taken in some new patterns of designs with wrist-length sleeves, high necks on dresses, corsets showcased beneath plain polonecks. Thanks to the rise of something called ‘modest-wear’.
Modest-wear as its name suggests is clothing that conceals rather than accentuates the shape of the body. This recent change, adapted by mainstream fashion, came forth due to its appeal to women who dress modestly for religious and cultural reasons, including Muslims, Jews and Christians, according to The Independent.
Renia Lewis, professor of cultural studies at the London College of Fashion and author of Muslim Fashion: Contemporary Style Cultures has been studying modest looks since the mid-2000s.
According to Lewis, she has noticed modest fashions hitting the high street. Jeans have long seen the adaption of what’s in the demand. Skinny jeans have been replaced favouring wide-legged trousers. Nigella Lawson a famous TV cooking celebrity gained attention when she stepped into the sea in a ‘burkini’ which reflected that some women don’t want to show flesh regardless of their beliefs.
TV chef Nigella Lawson wore burkini an attire for Muslim women to enjoy beach while modestly clothed. Photo: matrixpicturesuk
Meanwhile, Muslim fashion designers and influencers in UK are filling gaps that they have spotted in the market by using social media to gain popularity and have a platform to set up online stores.
This factor in brands to attempt to display more “woke” towards the appeal of dressing to attract millennial consumers in an uncomfortable political climate.
Recently a woman in hijab was portrayed in a Pepsi ad as a photographer depicts that modesty is now making its way in the main stream.
“Today, individuality is celebrated and again social media has been a key platform for people to express their individuality,” says Altaf Alim, the co-founder commercial director of Aab, a modest fashion brand that launched in 2007.
“Ten years ago it was very difficult to find clothing that was both suitably modest but also on trend.”
Aab has started its venture with the Debenhams – the first major UK department store to sell Muslim clothing. Their modest wear line’s swim wear collection sold out within days of going online.
Aab brand displayed at the entrance of Debenhams, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai. Photo: Gecko Media.
“What was available was either frumpy or boring and this is really how the industry came about. It’s fair to say it started out as a cottage industry with designers making dresses with a modest silhouette but with personality. Today there is lots of choice from independent designers’ right through to the high street. Consumer choice is always a good thing," she argues.
Neither Lewis nor Alim agrees that some people might consider this as an oppression, to which Alim stressed that there are still plenty of revealing clothes in stores, and Aab isn’t trying to replace those outfits.
The houndstooth drawcord kimono and houndstooth shirt dress by Aab. Photo: The Independent
The collision of modest fashion designers attempting to appeal to a wider audience while mainstream brands are trying to appear more inclusive has, somewhat, put to bed this question, argues Alim.
“Ironically this is no longer an argument any more as all the mainstream designers are championing modest fashion as the ‘go to’ look. It’s all very en vogue at the moment. However, in the earlier days you always wanted to be careful when talking about modest fashion so as to be sure that you weren’t implying that any other fashion was immodest," she says.
Simi Polonsky who founded The Frock NYC, an orthodox Jewish fashion brand, with her sister agrees. “I feel that society is slowly taking a turn in that they are focusing less on the nuances of a modest woman’s specific dressing guidelines and honing in on the truth behind the modest movement ."
Alim says she s had "so many" responses from women who say Aab dresses have given them a renewed sense of confidence, adding: "we want our brand to be inclusive of everyone be they faith or non-faith."
Lewis states that, “it s potentially great if you are fashion conscious Muslim. But if you go to iftar [the breaking of the fast during Ramadan] every day and you start to need a different outfit because it becomes a fashion parade that might be unwelcome and oppressive to some.”
She adds: "It s all very well to cover but if the clothes were produced by sweated labour and have a terrible impact on environment then how does that fit in with your ethics?"
But for women who have felt ignored by the mainstream for decades, modesty as a movement is an exciting new frontier in fashion.
“Modesty is about an attitude; it is all-inclusive to any woman from any faith, background or age who chooses to take a stand in how they present themselves," says Polonsky.
"Seeing that there is a strength and respect in that, is changing the perceptions surrounding modesty, and a modest woman in general."
