This Palestinian fashion designer is bringing hijabi haute couture to the Middle East

Heba Edris is no ordinary fashion designer. Born and raised in Kuwait, the Palestinian artist says that she learnt to draw before she could even speak. But it is her desire to bring high-end fashion to women that sets her apart from other modest designers. After more than 15 years in the fashion industry, she’s on a mission to elevate “hijabi haute couture” in Egypt, where she is now based, as well as the rest of the Middle East.

A headscarf wearer herself, Heba was tired of just how difficult it was to find modest evening wear, which is doubly ironic in a region that takes wedding fashion seriously. So she decided to start her own luxury line to provide women with chic and elegant fashion alternatives.

“I design clothes for all women, but I like to focus on hijabi women in particular,” Heba told My Salaam. “No one really caters to them, and all women deserve to feel beautiful whether they wear the hijab or not.”

Her atelier, Heba Edris Haute Couture, in the leafy suburb of Maadi, Cairo, now makes high-end and “Islamic-chic” fashion more accessible to women in Egypt and across the region through social media and digital platforms. So far, she has garnered nearly 250,000 fans on Facebook and just under 110,000 followers on Instagram.

 

A post shared by Heba Edris (@hebaedris_hc) on Apr 2, 2018 at 5:33pm PDT

EARLY BEGINNINGS

Her foray into the fashion world started with an obsession with dolls: her aunts taught her to sew, and she would spend her days designing clothes for her dolls. 

As she grew older, she designed clothes for her classmates. They would ask her to see her sketches and buy her designs. “At the time, I didn’t even know that I could make money off my designs. My friends would give my designs to the tailor and have the dresses made.”

It was when she moved to Egypt that her career in fashion design took off. Gaining a place at the Agriculture School of Cairo University in 1998, Edris continued to design clothes for colleagues and friends. She later signed up for Studio El Fen, the Lebanese talent show that launched the careers of celebs like Lebanese singers Elissa and Nawal El Zoghbi as well as the Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad. To her surprise, she won a bronze medal for her fashion designs during the programme’s 2003 season.

“This was a very exciting time for me,” Heba said. “To be recognised at such an esteemed show made me believe in my skills and encouraged me to pursue my passion in fashion design.”

It was also during this time that Heba had her first paying customers. “At the time, I was happy to design clothes for anyone who was interested. Then more people began noticing my designs and I slowly started growing.”

To develop her talent further, she went on to study fashion design in Italy before returning to Egypt to open her atelier.

IMMODEST CHALLENGES

In a culture that places great emphasis on degrees and diplomas, the value of craftsmanship is often neglected. “My main challenge was and still is finding good workmanship,” Heba said. 

As result, she often has to train her team. “I’m happy to train my team and I even give courses to students who want to learn to sew, but the problem is that there is high turnover in these jobs. Sometimes I sew the clothes myself to save time.”

Although that often results in the designer struggling to manage her time, she confessed that it is worth it to see women wear her clothes. “It gives me great pride to see women wear my dresses; this is truly my greatest accomplishment.”

To date, Heba has dressed more than 20,000 women in the Middle East, including Queen Rania of Jordan. 

It seems that her rapport with customers is what truly sets her apart from other designers. “When a woman is sitting in front of me, I don’t only listen to what she wants; I also study her to create something that is suitable to her personality. I want her to feel like herself wearing my dress.”

Dina Adel, a recent customer, remarked, “[She] is one of the rare designers who can easily understand what you want in a few minutes. When she drew my engagement dress, I really felt that it was mine. It reflected my character.”

 

A post shared by Heba Edris (@hebaedris_hc) on May 23, 2018 at 11:14am PDT

FEELING BEAUTIFUL

It is not only hijabi women who prefer to dress modestly. “Many of my clientele who don’t wear the hijab also don’t feel comfortable wearing tight or revealing clothes, so I create designs to make them feel beautiful,” the designer said.

Franka Soeria, an independent Muslim brand consultant for many of Southeast Asia’s modest-fashion brands, agrees with the designer’s mindset: “Modest fashion is a style option for everyone. In the past, women would reveal more skin to look good, but now women can cover more and also look good!”

Having established herself in high end fashion, Edris now wants to create a ready-to-wear line. “I would like to have my own shop and sell everything from clothes to accessories and bags. I would like to extend my fashion line to reach more women and give them more fashion alternatives that suit their lifestyle and values.”

(Writing by May El Habachi; Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@thomsonreuters.com)

© MySalaam.com 2018 All Rights Reserved