GIES 2016: Social media hits the catwalk: Meet modest fashion’s new trendsetters

Some of the world’s biggest modest-fashion brands have social media to thank for their rapid growth into million-dollar companies selling to customers in hundreds of countries. But social media is a difficult beast to master, and those who have used it effectively say that you have to keep changing as audiences move to new platforms.

Insights like this one were shared by the great successes in modest fashion at a session titled “Modest-fashion Influencers: Mastering Social Media to Gain Market Share” at the Global Islamic Economy Summit at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, on October 11 and 12, 2016.

“Instagram is my main social media platform. But right now, Snapchat is growing like crazy,” said Soha Mohamed Taha, founder of SohaMT Collection. Taha’s story is a social media fairy tale. She describes herself as a “style-influencer-turned-entrepreneur” who naturally gravitated from showing off her mix-and-match style to followers on Instagram to owning her own fashion collection, with customers in the GCC and beyond.

Taha today operates two Instagram accounts, with 174,000 following her as an influencer and another 19,400 following the SohaMT Collection account.

She is also active on multiple platforms, including a blog and an e-commerce website to boost her presence.

The modelling spend is minimal because her online inventory has personalised stories for each look that she puts together and models herself, whether with her own clothes or by collaborating with brands that want to tap into her influence.

That influence now extends to Snapchat, the mobile app that allows users to send videos and pictures that self-destruct after a few seconds of being viewed.

“People really like it because it’s so spontaneous,” said Taha. “The picture is not Photoshopped, and there is no studio lighting. You talk freely and explain so many things, unlike on Instagram where it is only a picture and a small caption. You can post videos, get asked questions and reply.”

Taha is now working with Modanisa.com, the biggest online modest-fashion retailer. Kerim Türe, founder and CEO of Modanisa, commented, “There are about 30,000 pieces on the site. We work with market-specific influencers to curate collections that are relevant to that market. For instance, a Jordanian influencer would be best placed to choose what’s good for the Jordanian market. Soha is going to do that for the GCC market next by picking her best choices from Modanisa.”

Photo: Kerim Türe, Founder and CEO of Modanisa

While Taha confessed to being overwhelmed by the fact that the fashion website that she followed has invited her to work with them, she herself has something of a follower in Türe, an early adopter of social media who is planning to experiment with Snapchat next. Modanisa used social media to test proofs of concept before launch, a practice he follows with newer products as well.

“Modanisa was one of the first movers on social media. We use Facebook and Instagram heavily. On Facebook, where we have 2.5 million followers, we are broadcasting in four languages: French, Arabic, Turkish and English. On Instagram, which was not there when we started back in 2011, we have 505,000 followers. We use YouTube videos a lot. We logged 25 million views in two-and-a-half years. You can reach your audience cheaply if you produce good content. Instagram remains our main channel right now. We are trying to follow everything from Facebook to Instagram, and now we will try Snapchat next. People need to see mix-and-matches, styles, fabrics and patterns,” he said.

Türe and Taha shared their dos and don’ts:

1. Video is crucial for fashion. How-to videos, which teach people how to drape a scarf, for instance, are especially popular.
2. Choose your own style. Let it be identifiable to others. Be authentic. Don’t try to copy.
3. Don’t be afraid to change. You can change your style and, with a little imagination—for instance, by adding a scarf or by layering—you can transform clothes from mainstream brands into modest wear.
4. Be aware of new channels. You need to follow the street and the influencers; keep talking to them and listen to your customers.
5. Collaboration is crucial, whether to create new style approaches for your brand or to showcase them via influencers.

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