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At first glance, Saudi Arabian brand Leem’s new store in British shopping centre Westfield London seems like any other. Mannequins in the window wear smart, contemporary dresses ideal for work, while inside hang rows of cosy knits, skirts and more dresses of varying lengths, cuts and sheerness. It’s not immediately obvious that it is a modestwear brand — a deliberate move by Leem to widen its consumer base as it expands internationally.
“There are core values integral to our brand that we’ll always uphold because that’s our foundation,” says Miles Young, Leem’s managing director. “However, our concepts have evolved into different product ranges based on demand and seasonality. For instance, while there’s a significant demand for maxi dresses in the Middle East, in the UK, there’s more demand for separates, so we expanded that category.”
The Westfield store marks the first step in expanding the brand’s physical presence internationally. Initially planned as a one-year pop-up, if successful it could become permanent.
Leem is one of several modestwear brands eyeing the opportunity outside of the Middle East as demand rises, spurred on by ‘quiet luxury’ and the modest dressing trend, as seen in collections by Max Mara and The Row, and touted by influencers including Khaoula Boumeshouli and Nia Amroun. TikTokers have also been changing the narrative around modest fashion.
“Established brands are picking up modest dressing and building it into their collections,” says Achim Berg, senior partner and global fashion expert at McKinsey. “That is essentially how you build the market; you need to establish broader acceptance. [This will be] beneficial for the smaller, independent brands.”
Also behind the rise is an uplift in Muslim consumer spending on apparel and footwear: forecast to reach $428 billion by 2027, up from $318 billion in 2022. Despite the increasing prevalence of modestwear, Muslim expenditure on this category remains relatively low in the UK and European regions, and instead is primarily driven by sales in the Middle East and Asia. Efforts by retailers to integrate modestwear into their offering have often concentrated on Ramadan collections that reflect traditional Middle Eastern styles — failing to represent the West’s preference for casual or streetwear categories.
Adapting the offer to international markets
Leem, which was founded in 2018, has positioned itself as a contemporary label in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with an e-commerce store, seven physical retail spaces and an app. Seeking to build on its success in the GCC, in 2023 the brand introduced online exclusives through Selfridges in the UK, as well as Zalando across several countries in Europe including Germany, France and Belgium, to name a few.
The positive reception from customers in the UK led the brand to open its store; it is exploring other opportunities, but did not disclose its priority markets. “The feedback we’ve had from customers in the London store has been very encouraging,” says Young.
Dubai-based womenswear brand Bouguessa underwent a similar transformation during its international expansion to luxury concept stores in Norway in 2019, and Spain in 2023. “I wanted to make modesty the core aspect of the brand when I first launched it [in 2014], to make sure that modest dressers were being represented in the luxury sphere. Over time, as we expanded, we broadened the product range as it gave us the opportunity to scale organically,” says founder Faiza Bouguessa.
Bouguessa’s clothing is no longer tailored solely to Muslim consumers, but it ensures the core modest styles are always available. “For example, we consistently offer three to five abayas each season,” says Bouguessa. “We also offer modest maxi dresses alongside shorter dresses in the same material and the same goes for skirts and tops that are in long and short options too so our top customer groups globally are addressed.”
Bouguessa points out that European buyers typically refrain from purchasing traditionally modest designs. In Spain, buyers favour the summer styles, while in Norway, knits are more popular. Net-a-Porter actively stocks Bouguessa’s modest styles and also curates a modest edit dedicated to its Muslim shopper base. Similarly, Farfetch’s “Modern Modesty” edit is a permanent feature for shoppers hunting down these styles. “Buyers look at what products suit their customer clientele and those customers may not necessarily be modest dressers, so this is where versatility for international markets is useful,” explains Bouguessa.
Dutch modestwear label Merrachi also offers tops and bottoms alongside maxi dresses and abayas, which can be combined and styled across collections as well as integrated into customers’ existing wardrobes. As a result, they’ve gained increased customer retention from its Muslim customers and retained a consistent year-on-year growth rate of 200 per cent.
The brand also creates its own fabrics suitable for regular modest dressers, so their clothing can be worn comfortably in hot weather; a common problem that the wider market still hasn’t resolved, according to founder Nada Merrachi. “Modestwear is not a prominent category in Europe, but we’ve seen a honing into the specific needs of Muslim women living here work to our benefit,” she explains.
Building a presence
Modestwear brands are weighing up the pros and cons of DTC (especially through bricks-and-mortar stores) versus wholesale, to gain awareness internationally.
Last summer, Merrachi became the first modestwear label to establish a store in one of Amsterdam’s most prominent shopping districts, Koningsplein. “We didn’t anticipate such rapid growth but we are such a strong community and transferring the energy from online to in-store has been transformative for the business. I’m able to meet and interact with our customers on a weekly basis and get regular feedback from them that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do entirely online,” says Nada Merrachi.
Leem faced a similar dilemma, and settled on a cross-channel distribution strategy. “When we started looking into taking international steps, the first thing on our minds was how do we mitigate the risks as you scale? We decided to first partner with Selfridges [online] and then we partnered with Zalando to test out the market in Europe,” says Young.
A physical store, meanwhile, provides new customers with an opportunity to engage with the brand and discover what sets them apart from competitors. “Retail is not only about establishing distribution channels, it’s also about building a brand and creating brand awareness,” adds Young. “While you can capture a specific market segment online, the online landscape is highly competitive, especially for international brands entering without global recognition.”
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