Shanaz Rukhsana puts faith into her work ethic, quite literally. At 23, her visiting card declares her founder of The Hijab Company, a startup rooted in the intersection of modesty and fashion. Supplying hijabs, abayas and other clothes tailored for Muslim women, Rukhsana is only one of the several entrepreneurs in the business of Islamic fashion. With enterprises growing rapidly across India, young Muslim women are defining a new era of Islamic dressing: one that is at the meeting point of faith, modesty and business.
The Muslim veil, commonly known as the hijab, made its entry into the modern world decades ago. But only in the last few years did designers in India start paying attention to it. “Brands in India didn’t really cater to our sense of fashion,” says Rukhsana, adding, “Finding things like a pair of loosely-fitted pants was a task. I wanted to give Indian hijabis what they needed with my company.”
The dearth of an industry led to the rise of one. Young women who veiled themselves decided to delve into the business of modest fashion, discounting their lack of previous experience in the trade. “I’d never run a business before, obviously,” says Nayaab Shawl, Chennai-based founder of The Shawl Tag, who now operates from Irvine, California. “A lot it was my own research into the quality of the products, the smartest areas to invest, gathering couriers for my shipments. Most of my learning came on the job.”
Future entrepreneurs also found inspiration to experiment with styles and aesthetic on social media, garnering followers who began to look to them for advice and inspiration. Aemani Zimren, Calicut-based founder of Veil It, had a gathering that reached thousands before her company came into view. Her followers soon turned customers, encouraged by the possibility of a genre of fashion that was affordable and accessible. “I was always receiving questions about what I wore and where I got it from. Veil It came from those conversations; I wanted to create plain, classy clothing that incorporated modesty and subtle sophistication for an Indian audience,” she says.
Localising the domain of Islamic fashion has been their main point of attraction, believes Shawl, with Indian audiences finally having access to styles they saw abroad. “Most Islamic fashion was contained to America or the UK, and shipping it to India meant paying double the price,” she says, “I wanted to sell what hadn’t been accessible here before; long overcoats, a diverse range of cotton hijabs, clothes that you could afford and look good in.”
Having their businesses based in India comes with other aspects, however; more specifically, sects of the community with conservative perspectives. For her part, Aemani has found that the reaction has been mostly positive, with a little dissent from others. “Overall, there have been very few people who have held me back or reacted negatively.” Rukhsana says, “I get asked a lot if I receive hate for breaking conservative barriers. So far, it’s been nothing but love.”
The girls are careful when it comes to walking the line between business and modesty, careful not to let one engulf the other. “A business means you have to focus on profit,” Rukhsana admits, “But the Islamic aspect is also equally important to the company’s ethos; we always keep it in mind when experimenting.”
