Eid Collection Now Live

Asalam 'Alaikum, 

The latest Sabihah London Lookbook is now online and available in our online shop. This lookbook represents the shades of summer. This summer we have witnessed some great weather here in the UK and this collection with its light colours and breathable fabrics offer the perfect companion for the long summer days.

Here are a couple of our picks

Sara Skirt
Vibrant colours and textures weave fabric make the Sara skirt a summer essential'  Still looking for the perfect summer skirt then look no further. The Sara skirt is designed in a biscuit weave fabric which flows gracefully as you walk. We have two vibrant options available in Turquoise and Apricot to suit your personality. Summer is the ideal time to wear vibrant shades and these skirts are perfect for an occasion or summer events. This skirt has simple yet elegant gathers which works for all body shapes.  

Apricot

Turquoise

Sineen Floral Dress
'The perfect summer dress'
This charming dress is perfect for adding a touch of femininity to your wardrobe. want to brighten up your wardrobe but still maintain cool then this cotton blend dress is for you. A classic simple flare cut carefully crafted onto a woodland floral fabric which is lightweight for the summer but no need for the layers as its non sheer. A summer wardrobe essential which ticks all the practicality boxes but still remains effortlessly stylish and modest.

Be sure to browse the rest of our lookbook and view some of our lovely tunics, abayas and skirts. 

Walaykum Salaam

Sabihah London

Design & Fabric

Asalaam'Alaykum,

A somewhat belated blog post but one I have been working on for a while now. I hope you enjoy it and as always please comment your feedback, like, share with your friends.       

This post will hopefully provide an in-depth insight into the design and production of my clothing line insha’Allah while at the same time answer a common question I often get asked - why are your clothes so expensive?

I launched Sabihah London a few months ago with the aim of designing and making high quality modest clothing. The work required in setting up, designing and producing the garments from scratch was a long and hard journey that took a number of years. When I started I had no idea it would take this long, things are not as simple as they often look.

Sampling

All of the clothes are designed and sampled in the UK. This is so I can closely follow the process from start to finish to ensure the pieces are exactly how I visualise them to be. The samples are what manufacturers use as an exact template to produce all of the garments. They are crucial to the whole process and have to be designed meticulously after several iterations to perfect the style and cut. To perfect the style and fit it can take weeks of sampling to achieve exactly what I want – it’s more complicated than just following a sketch. 

Finding a sampler and manufacturer who understood my requirements to make modest clothing was a difficult task. I felt like giving up several times as there were many failed attempts, it felt ludicrous how the majority of samplers did not understand the simple concept of modest clothing. Eventually, after months of searching and trying different samplers I finally found the perfect sampler. She was like gold dust, as she understood my concept well and this reflected in the samples she produced which was really the exact modest fit I wanted. She was actually a Muslim from a similar background to myself with a similar education and I felt I could converse and relate my ideas to her in a very personal and relaxed way – she just understood all of the intricacies of what I wanted. Even then it took many attempts to get the exact cut and fit that I wanted. I strongly believe that we will always love and rely on the clothes that fit us perfectly hence my strong emphasis on this sampling process.

Boutique Manufactured

Finding a manufacturer who was able to produce my garments and offer the quality I wanted was the biggest hurdle to overcome in the whole process and a major milestone when I found the right one. It took almost a year to find a boutique that suited my needs which was focused on quality and small quantities. I eventually found a small boutique in Bulgaria that met my needs. My first collection was handmade there by locally skilled dressmaking professionals with extensive experience and knowledge in tailoring. Their working conditions are of a high standard with fair and equitable pay.  The workshop also features the latest tools and technology allows us to maximise the quality of our garments. 

Full attention has been given to every piece in the collection by using only the highest quality trimmings such as US made zips to ensure longevity. The inside of each garment is hand finished using French seams to make sure there are no loose thread or fabric visible. Every single piece is quality checked to make sure they are in perfect condition without any defects and accurate in sizing.

Fabric

All of the fabrics I use are sourced in the UK to ensure high standards of quality as well as originality in the different textures and prints offered to our customers. All the fabrics used are unique in print and texture and I do not use low quality or cheaper versions to reduce costs.

Supporting small independent businesses has always been central to my principles and this is always the case with the fabric suppliers I use.

I hope this post has helped to answer the above question and provide more insight. We are a start-up Muslim business that tries to maintain Islamic principles when conducting business. Our costs are much higher as we produce in small quantities, focus on quality and finishing and have an ethical approach, so we cannot be compared to your average high street retailers. As always if you have any questions about this I am more than willing to help and give further details insha’Allah – info@sabihah.london

Love Sabihah x x 

My Story

Asalaam Alaykum Sisters,

First of all apologies for not getting this blog post finished straight after I launched, it was always my intention to launch with a short blog post with a little introduction to me and the factors that steered me down the path of starting my own clothing line. It has been insanely busy in my life recently with my brother and sister getting married around about the same time. 

So it all began when as young girl I saw my mother regularly on her sewing machine making clothes for herself and for others. As children do, I started to imitate her and it wasn’t long before I was designing and sewing my own clothes as well as experimenting with different fabrics to see what I could create.  

I made the conscious decision to wear hijab at the age of 15 and my first abaya was biege which stood out as it was different from the most commonly used black. This did raise eyebrows as it was different from the norm but I didn’t want to look like everyone else. Wearing oversized black jersey abayas wasn’t my type of modesty as I felt like I was drowning in endless yards of material. Cheap abayas or shoddy designer replicas just didn't fit in with my style. 

Clothing that suited my needs was extremely limited on the high street. The other option was to spend weekends in local Asian shops trying to find abayas but all I came across was black low quality fabric and poorly made abayas that failed to impress me. I soon realised finding modest clothing that was appealing to me was an impossible task. I started buying fabrics that I liked and tailored them to create dresses and abayas exactly the way I wanted, clothes that would make me feel confident and look stylish without compromising my modesty. The clothes that I made for myself started gaining attention from friends and family and they started asking me to make something similar for them. I would usually give them my current abaya and make a new one for myself. They were so impressed with my clothes that they would encourage me to start my own brand.

View fullsize

View fullsize

While shopping on the high street I would always think to myself, if only that dress had full-length sleeves or was a maxi length. Finding outfits like that, that weren’t designer, was extremely difficult and I was always left feeling frustrated. Buying high street outfits and adding layers to try to make them modest didn't work for me as I always felt I was trying to cover over the root problem that I knew could be solved with a few simple design changes. 

My view on modesty is that it should make Muslim women feel confident, elegant and comfortable. I have always wanted to dress modestly but still be able to look presentable and feel confident in my attire. My wardrobe consists of only a few well-tailored dresses that I love to wear again and again and create different looks with. Quality is worth more than quantity. A few well-tailored pieces can be mixed and matched and kept for years rather than fast fashion items that may only last one wash or lose its form and feel uncomfortable after one use. I can say I have felt like this on many occasions. 

So there you have it - a little bit about me, my background and some reasons why I wanted to start my own brand. The next few blog posts will talk about the challenges I faced in setting up my brand and the process of making a dress from start to finish. I will also be writing about the inspirations behind some of my pieces in the first and future collections inshAllah.

I would love to hear your thoughts, you can get in touch with me via email, instagram DM or send a quick tweet, whatever you prefer. 

Wa'alaykum Asalaam

Love Sabihah