Designer introduces 'Islamified' fast fashion

Muslim women on the quest for fashionable yet modest pieces, look no further: London-based designer Hana Tajimi-Simpson has launched her own label, Maysaa, which she describes as the "high street, Islamified."

Tajimi-Simpson, the daughter of a Japanese father and an English mother, started out with her blog, Style Covered, after realizing how little variation there was in Islamic clothing when she converted to the religion four years ago.

Her declared goal is to make clothes for Muslim women that could equally be worn by Westerners, with this season's maxi skirts and dresses being the perfect examples.

"One of the first things I did when I became Muslim was to donate all my ‘un-Islamic' clothes to my little sister, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," she writes on her website. "Four years later and a fair few of those items have slipped back into my wardrobe along with other things I thought I'd never be able to wear. Don't get me wrong, I love my simple abayas [robe-like overgarments] but this blog is for those days when you feel like stepping out in something a little different."

Some of the designer's pieces, such as the headscarves ($29), still look like you would expect them to look - even though Tajimi-Simpson gets inspired by high-fashion campaigns featuring head wraps, e.g. at Kenzo, and her chiffon and satin options are particularly beautiful - but others could really be worn by just any fashionable woman, without the pieces violating the 'hijab' rules of dressing: there are wide-legged pants ($59), jersey and satin hoodies ($53), and dresses inspired by kimonos or jumpsuits (around $70).

On the label's website, maysaa.com, there is even a small webzine designed to give you styling inspiration, and Tajimi-Simpson encourages everyone to come forward with new ideas: "From a designer's perspective we can get very used to designing for our own body type," she says. "[...] I want to get to know what you like, and what you wear for your body type, because no other person knows your body better than you! I'm going to take everything you say back to my drawing board and inshAllah give you a collection that you helped to create!"

Send your suggestions to hana@stylecovered.com.
Order the collection online at http://www.maysaa.com.
Visit Style Covered at http://www.stylecovered.com.
Watch Tajimi-Simpson's headscarf tutorial (almost 150,000 hits on YouTube!) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGYCeFIFM4s.