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