Frum fashion – it’s a calling and a business

JULIE LEIBOWITZ

American business magazine Fast Company estimates the market for modest clothing is at $254 billion (R3,48 trillion). Even big-name brands like Dolce & Gabbana recently jumped on the bandwagon by launching limited lines. A few bloggers – mostly Muslim – are showing that women can be appropriately covered and fashion forward, and they have millions of followers online.

It’s a trend that hasn’t bypassed the local Jewish community, where savvy entrepreneurs are building businesses that enable women to be tznius (modest) and beautiful. For local fashionistas Susan Frankel and Sarah Feldman, modesty is as much a way of life as it is a business. Both dress this way themselves because they are religious, and because they believe it is empowering.

Frankel didn’t grow up religious. The owner of Kerry’s Fashions, a thriving business in Johannesburg which makes and supplies modest women’s clothing, she is a baal teshuva who became religious nine years ago.

Marrying a religious man required her to give up her entire wardrobe, a supreme sacrifice for this fashion-conscious person, who grew up making her own clothes.

“Pants, tank tops, I had to get rid of them all,” she says. “I kept one pair of jeans, which I couldn’t part with. I plan to make it into a handbag.”

Dressing modestly is as much a state of mind and demeanour as it is a principle, she says, pointing out that each individual’s level of modesty is personal. But, she subscribes to the dictum of “the less you show, the more attractive you are”.

Hence, Kerry’s Fashions doesn’t prescribe what women should wear, but the business, which employs 11 full-time seamstresses, does keep broadly within the dictates of making sure that clothing is past the knee, past the elbow, and necklines are as high as the collarbone. Nevertheless, if a customer wants something else, say sleeves up to the elbow, or a higher, Chinese collar for the more orthodox, it can be done.

This is the strength of her business model. Within a highly niche market, Kerry’s caters for specific customer needs by making, copying, and adapting bespoke items, plus Frankel prides herself on knowing each customer and being acutely sensitive to market trends.

Sarah Feldman, who has been in the modest fashion business for two years, goes by the social media handle “rabbis_wife” – appropriate for the rebbetzin of Gardens Shul in Cape Town. She designs and sells clothing through her online store, and through agents in Joburg and London.

Feldman is clear that frum fashion must conform with the modesty requirements of Jewish law, but like Frankel, she defines modesty widely, saying that it is the responsibility of men and women, and is expressed in everything we do, not just in how we dress.

Feldman came to her business through a lifestyle blog she started a few years ago, which included fashion. “I found that a lot of people were asking my advice, and needed help when it came to shopping and buying modest clothing. I felt there was a gap in the market.”

Indeed, the market for modest fashion is almost a foregone conclusion, because most “high-street” fashion isn’t suitable for religious customers, who need to adapt the clothing they buy.

It’s not just a “Jewish issue”. As much as 5% of Frankel’s client base is Muslim, and 3% are black. Feldman says she has clients from all faiths and communities. An initiative she started, called #unitingthroughfashion, which aims to promote peace and respect through fashion, has encouraged intercultural partnerships. In fact, a Sarah Feldman dress was recently featured on the site of Muslim fashion blogger Aqeelah Harron Ally in her “10 modest fashion ideas for summer”.

Modest fashion doesn’t only encapsulate skirts, dresses, pants (for Muslim women), and undergarments. It extends to headscarves and swimming costumes – even uniforms. Kerry’s currently supplies uniforms for choirs and two clinics.

Having a “tailor-made” customer base doesn’t make customers any less demanding. Frankel talks about the challenges of sourcing fabric in a particular colour for a Batmitzvah, to customers who have been waiting a year for a particular type of denim for their dresses, or even the demand for a range of under and over garments from those who like to layer, and all-in-one pieces from those who “just want to wear one thing”.

Religious constraints also don’t mean a lack of fashion sense. Both women are obsessed with fashion, and get their cues overseas. “While there is a big modest fashion market in the United States and Israel, many of the fashion trends, including modest fashion, follow the trends coming from the fashion centres in Europe,” Feldman says. Frankel’s clothing line closely follows trends set by religious Jewish communities in New York and Israel – but sometimes she and her staff simply get their ideas online.

Like many small businesses, one of their biggest challenges is accessing quality supplies – fabrics in this case – in small amounts and in time. Fabric is almost uniformly sourced overseas. Frankel points out that wholesale prices for good fabrics went up 37.2% this year, making it a challenge to keep prices down. Fabrics also change with the seasons – each season brings a new swatch card from suppliers – resulting in colours going in and out of stock.

“Ultimately, fashion is all about fabric. Sometimes I keep a piece of fabric just for myself… People say, ‘I haven’t seen that in your shop,’ and I say, ‘and you won’t see it…’,” she says with a mischievous grin.

For both women, it’s not just a business, it’s a passion and a calling. Says Feldman, “There is definitely demand and potential for growth. We have just celebrated our second anniversary. We hope to continue growing and expanding, offering a wider and more diverse range of styles so that, please G-d, more and more women can experience the empowering radiance and beauty of modest fashion.”