BRAND STORY  ·  MODEST FASHION  ·  DESIGNER NOTE

What Modest Fashion Means to Me — and Why I Started Shehna

I want to tell you something I don't say often enough.

Fashion by Shehna didn't begin with a business plan or a mood board. It began with a child pressing her nose against a tailor's workshop window in Dubai, watching artisans do hand embroidery on black fabric — completely absorbed, completely in love with what she saw.

That child was me. And in many ways, she still is.

“Modest dressing is not a limitation. It is an invitation — to explore texture, culture, colour, and craft in ways that honour the woman wearing it.”

Growing Up in Dubai — Where It All Began

I was born and raised in Dubai, UAE, and this city shaped everything about how I see fashion.

Growing up here as part of the expat community, one of the earliest things that captivated me was the abaya. Watching women move through the heat of Dubai in black — with such grace and presence — I was fascinated. Not by the garment as a restriction, but as a canvas.

What struck me was a very specific problem: black on black disappears. The richness of hand embroidery, the texture, the intention — it got lost. I became almost obsessed with the question of how you bring life to black. How do you make the embroidery sing? How do you add dimension, contrast, emotion — without losing the identity of the garment?

That curiosity led me to fashion design, and eventually to Manipal Academy of Higher Education — graduating in the 2007 batch. My final collection was abaya-inspired, drawn from the Romanticism era: a period I found endlessly compelling for its spirit of rebellion, its emotional intensity, its imaginative freedom. That collection won the Best Designer award. Looking back, it was the first time I truly articulated what I wanted to say through clothing.

How the Brand Was Born — A Quiet Decision in an Uncertain Time

After graduating, I worked with established names — Hanaya Abaya Store and  Wings of Abayas , Balqees Abaya — building my eye, learning the industry. And then I got married, and found myself at a crossroads, unsure of what came next.

That stillness is actually where Shehna was born.

 

My husband Ansar Babu and I sat together and designed the logo: Shehna — the letters S-H-N written in English, but given Arabic dots and consonants. A name that lived between two worlds, which felt exactly right. I taught myself how to build a website, listed my university final collection as my first products, and quietly launched in September 2010 — at a time when online shopping in the UAE was barely a concept.

 

                                  " Romanticism era collection"

And then something unexpected happened. International bloggers discovered me — a UAE designer making abayas and modest wear — and started writing about the brand. Suddenly I had international sales. That was the moment I believed it could be something real.

“Fashion by Shehna has always been a mirror of my own journey as a person. Every collection reflects where I was — what I was working through, what I was discovering about myself.”

Every Frustration Became a Feature

What has always driven my design decisions is something very practical: real problems, real women.

 

I noticed abayas had no pockets — so I added them. I heard from women whose skin reacted to synthetic fabrics — so I created linen abayas. I personally suffered from migraines in Dubai's heat while wearing a hijab — so I designed a hands-free hoodie hijab that does the job without the weight. One piece. Sleeveless inner, hoodie hijab, abaya, all unified. You put it on and you're done.

 

                                    shehna moment collection / sporty collection

 

The same spirit lives in the Movement collection — sporty abayas designed for comfort, ease, and the freedom of just moving through your day without your clothes working against you.

That's still how I work. The brand doesn't chase trends. It solves problems — and it grows as I grow.

What Was Missing: Character

When I entered the market, modest fashion — particularly the abaya — was largely one-dimensional. One cut, one colour, one formula: black fabric with black embroidery. Beautiful in its own way, but repetitive. There was no real range of expression, no personality, no playfulness.

I wanted to bring character to the garment. Interesting cuts, unexpected fabrics, a sense of life. Around 2014 I created a collection that felt quite bold for the market — sleeveless and short-sleeve abayas in khadi printed cotton, with pockets, side neckline details, a silhouette inspired by the clean lines of a T-shirt. Slightly colourful. Relaxed but considered.

That instinct — to bring character where there was convention — is still at the heart of everything I design.

Where Tradition and Modernity Meet

People often ask how I balance traditional Islamic values with a modern aesthetic. My answer is always the same: the balance lives in the silhouette.

The foundational principles of modest clothing are not a constraint to me — they're the structure I design within. What I play with is everything else: the cut, the proportion, the unexpected detail. A silhouette can be architectural and modern while still being modest. A sleeve can be interesting. A neckline can have personality.

That's where the creativity lives — in the space between the boundary and the blank canvas.

“It's never a compromise between tradition and modernity. It's a conversation between the two — and that conversation is where Fashion by Shehna exists.”

Who I Design For

The woman I design for is bold, confident, and multicultural.

She carries multiple identities at once — her heritage, her faith, her adopted home, her ambitions. She moves between worlds. She gets dressed every morning in the middle of all of that. And she doesn't choose between her values and her style. She refuses to.

Modest fashion, at its best, is one of the most inclusive forms of dressing there is. It asks only that you move through the world with intention. Everything else — the colour, the cut, the culture, the personality — is yours.

What Made-to-Order Really Means

Every piece at Fashion by Shehna is made to order. That means when you place your order, I'm creating something specifically for you — and I approach that with a great deal of intention.

The process begins with a collection — pieces designed with purpose, where every cut, every detail has been made deliberately. You then step into that world and make it your own: your length, your fit, small personal adjustments. You can share those notes at the point of purchase, and I'll always respond honestly.

That conversation is part of the experience. It's not just a transaction — it's a collaboration between what I've created and who you are.

“I want every woman who wears Shehna to feel not just beautiful — but held. Like something good was poured into what she's wearing.”

If You've Never Worn an Abaya

Just try it. And then notice how you feel.

Most women expect to feel restricted. What they often feel instead is a kind of ease — a freedom from the noise of figuring out what to wear, how much to show, how to be seen. There's a quiet confidence in it.

You don't have to belong to a particular culture or faith to find something meaningful in that experience. The abaya is, at its heart, simply a beautiful garment. And beauty has no prerequisites.

What the Name Shehna Stands For

Shehna is simply my name. That's where it began.

But the name carries its own meaning. Of Arabic and Persian origin, Shehna translates to royal — something tied to splendour, dignity, elegance. And while I didn't choose it for those reasons, I think it found its right home.

What I want Shehna to stand for is every woman's journey. The way we move through life in stages, and how what we wear in each of those stages reflects who we are becoming. The woman who is finding herself. The woman who has arrived. The woman who is quietly reinventing.

Fashion by Shehna has always followed that rhythm — evolving alongside the women who wear it. Because dressing is never really just about clothes. It's about how you feel about yourself at this particular point in your life.

And I want every woman who wears Shehna to feel that she is exactly where she is meant to be. Regal, in her own way. On her own terms.

Explore the collections at shehna.com — made to order, made with intention, made for you.