Brand names and famous designers have been an important part of the fashion industry of the west for a number of years, but all the major brand names offer only western outfits and not target the millions of Middle Eastern and other Muslim Asian countries, where women are equally brand conscious, but cannot benefit from the big labels due to the restrictions in dressing that are implied by Islam. The long flowing jilbabs and hijabs to cover the heads were initially only available by large retailers catering to the masses. These mostly constituted the lower end retail side of the apparel industry.
Recent years have however seen a change in the trend for Islamic clothing. Many Middle Eastern dress designers have launched brand names for jilbabs, which have gained a lot of popularity amongst the wealthy Muslim socialites. They only create extravagant and exquisite jilbabs for their clients, which are not only unique but also comparable in value to the high end Western apparel brands. Although these brand names are local to the Middle East and Asian countries, their design houses are quickly gaining popularity amongst the expat Muslims living in Europe and America as well.
Some of the more famous brand houses include Lina Feghali Maalouf’s “Prestige Liban”, Amal Murad’s “REDAA”, Badar Al-Badoor’s “Abaya Couture” to name a few. These labels are highly prestige amongst the Muslim women of the Arab descent in particular. Their collections include beautiful jilbabs suitable for an array of occasions and events and are loved by the fashion forward women. Certain jilbabs designers take part in fashion shows in Paris, London and New York in order to reach a wider target audience for their stylish creations.
Last year certain western designers also launched their abayas and jilbabs collections in order to satisfy the needs of their Muslim clientele. Although initially it was a little difficult for them to create a strictly religious outfit line, these designers left their customers breathless with their exquisitely designed jilbabs collections. The basic concept which they worked with was to blend fashion with culture and religion to create a stylish and modern outfit which will be acceptable both on a fashion and a cultural level.
The designer shops and brands were accepted with a lot of happiness on behalf of the customers who had been long waiting for this revolution in the traditional Middle Eastern clothing. Brand sensitive women were quickly wooed by the local designers who dared to create splendid and tasteful long flowing robes which not only met the fashion standards but also the religious and cultural ones.
Sohail Khan works for Islamic Impressions which specializes in retail and wholesale products for the Islamic market and stock a wide range of jilbabs and abayas for the discerning Muslim woman.
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