What goes into the SHUKR garment that you order and receive in the mail? In a series of 5 posts, we’ll give you an exclusive, behind the scenes look at how SHUKR works. The first post is from our Head Designer, Tabassum Siddique, who starts the ball rolling with her collections of exclusive designs. She designs SHUKR’s 3 seasonal collections: 1) Spring / Summer; 2) Autumn / Winter; 3) and Ramadan / Eid.

Part 1: The Design Process: It’s Much More than Making Pretty Drawings

Sometimes my collections for SHUKR will start out like this…

 

 

 

…an early morning walk snapping photos of everything that catches my attention. By the way, these aren’t pictures of my neighborhood, but believe me, I wish they were. The beachside is an extremely inspiring place. I suppose that it has a lot to do with all of the negative ions in the atmosphere that make you feel more balanced and recharged, with your senses stimulated, and in contact with your creative side. Since I am constantly working on large collections, I have reached a point where I know exactly what I am looking for when I am out scratching for new ideas. Most people think that designers just sit around and wait for inspiration. Or, the opposite-that they are constantly jet-setting to exotic locations and drawing pretty pictures of clothes, but that’s not true. To come up with ideas at least several months ahead of a new season takes several factors: discipline, for the most part; a business sense; knowledge of apparel construction, design, and art; and, scratching in the best places to have the best ideas-there is no process of osmosis here.

 The research part of the design process includes such activities as short trips, attending fabric fairs, style hunting, museum visits, reading books (and the topics vary greatly), watching films, writing, sketching, looking at graphic designs and prints, studying patterns or testing new ones out, collecting samples of everything, and finally, speaking with customers, co-workers, friends, or family. Once I have finished the research, I bring all of these elements together and look for a common thread to create a cohesive idea. I would say that the least glamourous part of this process, if any part of my job could actually be considered glamourous, would be reviewing past sales reports and other more technical aspects of coming up with new collections-a vitally important aspect of the business of an apparel company.

 

 

Once I get the parameters for each collection, I have to decide how can I make my ideas work, given my restrictions and within the context of the company’s style. At this phase of the process, which gets increasingly more intense (and the part that my husband dreads) is when there are many late nights, no weekends, and rattled nerves. But alhumdulillah, he has been a good sport about it and a great source of inspiration and support as well. Usually about the same time, or in the research phase, I have already thought about the colors and fabrics that will be used. If there are any fabrics that we would have to import, then I sometimes have to call or email these companies to inquire about prices and place orders. Although I may have developed a collection with concrete ideas and everything mapped out, this is not to say that things do not get changed at the last minute.

Some common challenges that I encounter could be that the color palette changes, some designs get edited out, the fabrics that I had wanted to use are now not available, or there are designs that can be too time-consuming, too costly, and or too difficult to produce. This can sometimes be very frustrating for a designer. Many times, what I have designed in the beginning can end up being something else by the time it’s up online. What is important, regardless of the ever-changing limitations, is to always make the collections work.

After all the concepts have been sketched out, they have to be presented, reviewed, and later modified. From these approved sketches, I redraw them and turn them into technical drawings with detailed descriptions on how each garment is made and what details it requires. This will be used by the patternmakers to produce the samples and then the production orders.

 

This is probably the most time-consuming and arduous part of the design process. Throughout the entire design process, nothing is at a standstill. I still have loads of other things to attend to while I am working on a collection: tons of emails, marketing, other projects, and prepping for the next collection. This is where discipline plays a key role, and being able to zone in on my work and focus despite all of the other responsibilities I have to attend to.

Even though there are long periods of working around the clock, deadlines, and sometimes very tedious tasks, I love what I do. From the inception of a collection and especially at the very end, I always find it very interesting to see how the entire collection has transformed and developed throughout this part of the process.

~Tabassum, Head Designer

We often get questions from tall, slim women about what SHUKR size they might be, and what they can reasonably wear. As a 6′ tall, 140 pound (that’s 182.88cm and 63.5kg) rather thin person, I took it upon myself to research this question firsthand in the hopes of discovering for myself the best-fitting items for the ‘vertically gifted’. On my fieldtrip to our small outlet in Kharabsheh, which sells imperfect items at discounted prices, I discovered several general principles and feel I can make some cautious recommendations.

As a disclaimer, everyone’s body type is somewhat different, and though I am speaking as a tall person, you should take into consideration all of your particular measurements before making your decision about which size to buy for which garment. Though SHUKR sizes get bigger as they get longer, the style and the cut are things to take into consideration, as I found that some cuts were much more flattering on me than others.

Some of the garments that I tried on are not precisely well-stocked at the moment, so I’m also going to mention some very similar garments that the same ideas apply to, and are indeed in stock (as of the writing of this post).

Tops:

Generally speaking, all tops are the same in the bust, shoulders and sleeves. The waist and hips of the tops varies from style to style, but there is a certain minimum width that is maintained. And, if you look closely at the sleeve lengths for the models in the pictures, you will notice that the sleeves run a little longer than your average shirts in general-many times, to mid-hand or more. The following are examples of garments that I tried on, and the reasons why I found them to fit successfully.

I tried on the Nouria Tunic in medium (US, UK) which fit perfectly in the shoulders and sleeves. My arms are long, so I was ecstatic that the sleeve length was appropriate. This particular shirt bells out at the bottom, but what is really nice is that because of the gathered area in the front and back, it was flattering to my body type without being immodest:

 

 

 

This brings me to one of my main points about choosing shirts that are flattering for those of us shaped like marathon runners: there needs to be some sort of tailoring, pintucking, gores, pleating or gathering somewhere in the design of the shirt so that the fit is flattering. If I wear a shirt that is designed in a very simple way, it doesn’t look as if it fits me correctly. It may appear to be cut too wide, especially in the bust. You should also consider the kind of fabric, as I found that the 100% cotton garments tended to exaggerate my build (but not always-especially if the design/cut is appropriate), whereas garments with a mixed fabric blends fell in a much nicer way.

Next, I tried on our Embroidered Duster Shirt (US, UK), which was a perfect fit in medium. It is nearly knee length (on me), and because of the general design of our button-down shirts, it still fits in a nice way. In addition, the embroidery is really beautiful:

 

 

 

Finally, I tried on the Long Modal Undershirt (US, UK) and loved it. It’s like it was built with me in mind. A small fit perfectly, and it has great sleeve and body length. It’s soft, stretchy and comfortable-perfect for layering in the winter:

 

 

 

In sum, go for a top that has some sort of tailoring in front, and any of our button-down shirts should look nice. Here is a small sample of tops that will likely be flattering to the tall and thin:

The Sundial Wrap Top (US, UK)
The Mimar Blouse (US, UK) 
The Sina Blouse (US, UK)
The Sunshine Embroidered Top (US, UK)
The Viscose Work Blouse (US, UK)
The Afasa Dress Top (US, UK) – see below:

 

 

 

Skirts and Pants:

Generally speaking, all the skirts and pants within their sizes are the same in the waist, hips and length. It’s the flair of the skirt or pant opening that varies. As for pants, I found that the medium is long enough, but the waist is potentially too small. If you are worried, go for a large and just get it hemmed. Or, stay with the medium, but look for an elasticized or partially elasticized waist. Since I’m currently expecting (nearly 4 months along) not much is fitting around my waist anyway, so this might be my bias. For the skirts, I tried on the Tulip Shaped Cotton Skirt (US, UK) in a large, and found that I had an extra inch at the waist, and it was too long! Imagine my shock when it hit the floor! This is because most tall and slim women have slim hips, which is the part that is supposed to hold up the skirt. Since this is the case, if you are built like me, do not worry about the length of skirts too much-either a medium or large should work. You can always get it hemmed if it is too long (bet you thought I wouldn’t write something like that). 

 

 

 

Here are some similar items:

1. Wool Blend Huyam Skirt (US, UK) (great for winter):
2. Comfort Fit Jersey Skirt (US, UK) (flexible waist!):
3. Tencel A-line Skirt (US, UK) (wrinkle resistant) — shown below:

 

 

 

Dresses and Jilbabs:

Dresses and jilbabs are where the rubber meets the road when it comes to the tall and thin. I tried on size larges because adequate length was important to me. The trick is finding a certain style of dress that will also be flattering on top, because the top will naturally be a bit too large for my body type. As my mother would say, with my frame, it’s best to choose garments that “have a shape.” In addition, anything that we specify is ‘tailored’ is going to have a bit slimmer cut. Here are two that I thought would be a good bet:

1. Wool Hooded Jilbab (US, UK) — shown below:
2. Wool Blend Princess Dress (US, UK)

 

 

 

I hope this was helpful. In closing, here is a Hijab Haiku:

If you’re thin and tall
Don’t despair-look at hijabs
There, one-size-fits-all

To see our hijab section, click here: (US, UK)

~Beth, Blog Admin

Perhaps the most iconic aspect of SHUKR’s website presentation is the striking photography, taken against the backdrop of beautiful, traditional Damascene houses. These remnants of Ottoman splendor are priceless historical gems, testifying to the beauty of traditional Islamic architecture. SHUKR has been privileged to photograph its clothing collections in some of the most famous of these fairy-tale palaces and homes, including the Azem Palace, Maktab ‘Anbar and Bayt Nizam. We have also photographed in other atmospheric Islamic architectural masterpieces, such as the magnificent Umayyad Mosque, the dramatic Khan As’ad Pasha, the sumptuous Bait Shami restaurant, and the atmospheric old souks. This photograph of our Tunic Shirt, taken in the Azem Palace, was a winning shot during our Ramadan 2005 campaign:

 

 

 

The Azem palace was originally built in 1750 as a residence for the Ottoman governor of Damascus, As’ad Pasha al-‘Azem, and it currently functions as the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions. Here’s a shot our cameraman took with a minaret of the Ummayyad Mosque in the background. Who wouldn’t want to have the Umayyad Mosque as their local masjid?!

 

 

 

Maktab Anbar has some wonderfully intricate geometric wooden doors, which we love to photograph against. Here’s a favorite photo from Ramadan 2007:

 

 

 

Maktab Anbar, built in the mid-19th century, contains a mixture of traditional Islamic design themes, including, of course, the symbolic gardens, as well as European-influenced stonework.

 

 

 

Bayt Nizam, an 18th-century quaint Damascene house, has some wonderful stonework. Maybe this is what is engaging our male models in this photo? Probably not!

 

 

 

This mother-of-pearl engraved door from the Bayt Nizam has some thoughtful religious poetic lines, saying: 

“That which Allah wills, Is
And that which He does not will, is Not”

“Whoever trusts in Allah, Allah frees from need (from any besides Him)
And whoever depends upon Him, Allah suffices him”

 

 (Click on the image to enlarge it and read the Arabic engraving yourself)

 

A typical SHUKR photoshoot takes up the whole day, and we have a small team of enthusiastic models, assistants, a director and a cameraman. None of our models are professionals, but rather just naturally talented individuals we bumped into here and there. We normally have 3 female models on site, which gives us an opportunity to create some interesting group shots. Here’s a favorite from Ramadan 2007:

 

 

 

Judging by the amount of page views this next image received on our websites, this was our most popular image ever:

 

 

 

The photoshoots normally are an enjoyable experience, and probably the best one was when we rented out the Bait Shami restaurant to do some shots for Ramadan and Eid. This is a traditional Arab house recently converted into a restaurant, the best destination for Arab cuisine in Damascus:

 

 

 

The photoshoots are, however, also a lot of hard work. After a full day on one’s feet, rushing around trying to get everything done in time, it’s time to take a break!

 

 

 

We’d like to know what you, our customers, think about our pictures. Do you appreciate the traditional architectural backgrounds? What do you think about the style of photography? Is there enough product detail shown? We’d love to hear from you.

~Anas, Managing Partner