Jilbab: For fun and fashionable wear

Two Saudi fashion designers Nouf Sharbatly and Rehab Mirdad joined hands and launched their brand Jilbab for those who are looking for fun and stylish wear.
It all started when both designers used to work together in a place and noticed that they both designed their abayas and wore them to work. “I couldn’t find anything that satisfied my taste in fashion in the Saudi market. I used to recycle my clothes and reuse them in different abayas to make them suit my style,” said Sharbatly. “I used to see Rehab doing the same, with different styles, colors and cuts. It was nice seeing other people being creative with their clothes, so we decided to join hands and start our own business,” she added.
Sharbatly’s friends and family used to complement her on her designs and she used to give away free abayas to everyone who wanted them, until one day she decided to make profits from it and make it her full time job. “I first designed ten pieces and wanted to test the market so I displayed them to my sister’s friends. They didn’t know I was the one behind the designs; I only informed them it was a new designer and I was so happy to see the whole collection sold out in just one hour,” she said. “I then told them I was the designer and they instantly supported me and encouraged me to continue my work in fashion designing. I was so happy knowing I can turn my passion into business,” she added.
In 2009, the designers were only selling their abayas to friends and family and they wanted to expand their client list so they started participating in exhibitions and bazaars.
“I remember we designed around 100 different abayas and introduced some Ramadan special thobes in a 12-day pre-Ramadan exhibition in one of the malls in Jeddah. We were so happy to see that all our designs were sold out by the third day,” said Sharbatly. “We didn’t have anything else to offer for the rest of the days so we stayed until the fifth day only to take orders for later. After that we had to leave because it was embarrassing to sell on an empty stand,” she added.
Jilbab is known for its creative designs, colors and professional finishing. “We expanded our client list by enrolling in different exhibitions and we always hear great feedback from our clients which makes us think of creative ways to satisfy their huger for more fashionable wear by Jilbab,” said Sharbatly. “We keep close focus on the quality of the materials, cuts, deigns and finishing. We want our clients to feel unique, stylish and comfortable in our deigns,” she added.
Jilbab expanded their lines from abayas and thobes to skirts, dresses and accessories. “We keep introducing different lines in our brand because there is a huge demand for it. We want to keep up with the latest fashion trends so we keep designing to fulfill our passion for fashion and to satisfy our costumer’s hunger for style,” said Sharbatly. “We also introduced a line called Mommy and Me for young stylish mothers who want to match their style with their young fashionista daughters. All in all we are experimenting and trying to find what is suitable for our clients and we are going to come up with new ideas to expand the brand and make a bigger name for us,” she added.
Social media has been a great help for their business. They showcase their products on Instagram and gain more clients. “When we first started, we totally depended on word of mouth, we didn’t even have a Facebook page. Then we started participating in bazaars. Now we market our products on our Instagram page where we have been receiving great feedback and we are expanding our client list like never before,” said Sharbatly. “We are really grateful to also reach people from outside Jeddah who are keen to own one of our designs and we ship anywhere to the world,” she added.
Shrabatly and Mirdad are currently working on their Ramadan collection to be sold in Bisat Al-Reeh Ramadan bazaar. “We have prepared a huge collection for the six-day bazaar aiming to attract different clients from different countries. We are displaying abayas in different colors, such as, pastels, metallic and dark tones, in addition to new thobes that match all styles,” they said. “The fabrics we are using for this collection is a mix between light and colorful for summer and luxurious for Ramadan and Eid. We are making sure there is something for everyone,” they added.

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