Silk Route style in Jilbab design competition

Silk Route’s International Jilbab Design Competition: StyleIn!

British Fashion House Silk Route never in their wildest dreams thought that their Jilbab and Abaya design competition would have such an amazing and far reaching impact. 

Like the strap line of their You Tube video which aired on UK TV, they have exhibited that Muslims and non-Muslims from ‘California to Kualu Lumpur and from Cairo to Johannesburg’ have a desire and aspiration to design for the modest taste of millions of Muslim women around the world.

Competition organiser Mohammed Amin gives us an insight into some of the entrants and their designs; ‘It has been an absolutely amazing journey as we have had designers from Chile, Romania, Russia, Australia and over 90 countries submitting over 2000 designs. All of them have a unique take on modesty and a different style and flavour.  The talent has been exceptional and the public have been rallying behind them by registering and voting in their thousands. Designers have taken inspiration from their national heritage, colours of their flag and Islam to create innovative and unique pieces. Our Platinum Sponsor Islamic Design House has also done a great favour in Publishing all the designs on the Facebook page so that people can come and TAG, SHARE and COMMENT. We would like all Hijab Couture readers to find us on Facebook by searching Islamic Design House and joining in with the creative fun.

One design that really blew me away was the Jilbab designed for snowboarders, it was beautifully drawn and technically perfect, I could tell the designer was from a professional background and the love for snowboarding made sense when I realised she is from Russia. Likewise we have had many other designers from other faiths that have become good friends of mine through the journey of explaining to them how best to draw for a dominantly Muslim viewing audience’. 

Designers have been spreading the word far and wide and getting family and friends to come and leave messages of encouragement and support and designers have also been posting on each other’s designs showing their appreciation and support for one another. It exhibits a community who have really grasped the spirit and essence of what Silk Route is trying to achieve when Mohammed says that it is about ‘championing the creativity, talent and energy of the next generation of budding designers’.

Public voting will finish on 14/09/11 after which the 20 designs with the most votes from the public will go through the Judges stage. Our esteemed panel of Judges will also have the chance to choose up to 5 ‘Wild Cards’; a design which they liked but did not get voted in by the public. They will then take a few days to deliberate and choose their top ten with the winner being announced on the 24/09/11.

To find out more information on how to submit your designs or to vote for your favourite please visit the website:  SilkRouteStylein.com