Megan Dadsi always loved clothes, but it wasn’t until she converted to Islam that she noticed a problem in the fashion industry.
“It was hard to find modest-wear in regular stores,” the Orange County native said. “When it was accessible, maybe online, it wasn’t affordable.”
Dadsi is the owner of La Zwina Boutique, a passion project she opened two summers ago to cater to the lack of variety in modest clothing offered in U.S. retail stores. “Zwina” translates to “beautiful” in Moroccan Arabic.
Dadsi, who comes from an Italian-American background, said her interest in modest fashion began when she realized she needed a whole new wardrobe.
“Personally, I’m not going to wear a black abaya every day,” she said. “I want to show my personality through modesty as well.”
Dadsi is part of a growing international movement to diversify the modest fashion industry’s styling options and reach. In the face of widespread societal stereotypes about Muslim women dressing modestly against their free will, many Muslim designers, models and fashion writers have made a point of highlighting the opposite.
Dadsi said although she and many of her customers happen to be Muslim, her store aims to offer something for all women.
“We have all different backgrounds, religions, different people coming in,” she said. “Even during the wintertime, some people just want long sleeves. It’s cool because they get to learn about a different type of dressing.”
Before opening up a brick-and-mortar store, Dadsi sold clothes at bazaars across Southern California. Located in O.C.’s Little Arabia, she is one of the few female business owners in the area.
“I’ve inspired other women to start businesses in our community, and I think we need more of that,” she said. “Doing it on your own can be challenging but you learn a lot along the way.”
Dadsi works with vendors based in Turkey, Morocco and the UAE to bring in new selections every few weeks. She says she is often a part of the initial design process, down to the type of fabric and patterns used.
In the next month, Dadsi hopes to launch an online shopping site for La Zwina, as well as bring in a new clothing collection for Ramadan. In the past, she has brought in eco-friendly clothing materials for her more environmentally conscious customers.
Sultana Dahdoul has visited La Zwina a few times to shop for her daughters. During a visit in late January, she said Dadsi’s unique selection keeps her coming back.
“She has really cute, modern stuff for young girls,” Dahdoul said. “It’s very casual and you can wear it anywhere.”
Dahdoul said even though her daughters do not wear the hijab, La Zwina carries plenty of other options for religious holidays or visits to the mosque.
“Everyone was asking, ‘Where did you get those?’ when I bought my daughters dresses for Eid,” she said. “Pricing is inexpensive, so that’s a plus too.”
La Zwina Boutique offered customers opportunities to donate to pro-Palestinian causes in the past. Crochet watermelon keychains — symbolic of the colors of the Palestinian flag — as well as keffiyehs have previously sold out.
Dadsi noted that while her store welcomes everyone, she does not see a need to keep business separate from politics.
“It’s very important as a business to take a stand,” she said. “We have a large community of Palestinians in our area and we definitely want to support them. If anything, it’s good to educate people. [Customers] may see it from a negative perspective, but if you let them know why, they may understand a little bit better.”
Political activism within modest fashion is growing in popularity among designers. The 2024 edition of Lahum — an online magazine highlighting Muslim women in the fashion industry — is titled “#Free Palestine” and is dedicated to Palestinians in the spirit of fashion being used as a “powerful tool for advocacy.”
Mariam Jechi is the founder and creative director of Lahum, which translates to “for them” in Arabic. A graduate of the International Fashion Academy in Istanbul, she started the magazine to raise awareness of a community she too finds to be overlooked within the field.
A Muslim woman herself, Jechi said while mainstream fashion magazines may cover modest designers and their selections, this coverage is occasional and often labeled as a “trending topic” in order to generate short-term interest and revenue.
“Other publications don’t have experience in modest fashion. They don’t know what criteria it takes,” Jechi said. “I know what people are thinking.”
Jechi said she took the opportunity to tie her creative pursuits together with her political views on the war in Gaza, highlighting a number of Palestinian or pro-Palestinian female fashion designers who weave traditional patterns into their pieces.
“I wanted to talk about politics and show support in a really artistic way,” she said. “I started talking to designers about their inspiration and about Tatreez embroidery in connection to their own work.”
Jechi said she dreams of combating stereotypes about Muslim women in the modest fashion industry by growing her publication’s reach to the likes of Vogue one day.
“[Muslim women] are all very different and people tend not to go and learn about [those differences],” she said. “I want to show people that we actually have our freedom. Our hijab is our freedom.”
Dadsi said she recognizes the different preferences her customers have within modest-wear and frequently updates her selection in response.
“We have some sisters that like to wear abayas, some sisters that like to wear a dress, some sisters that like to wear pantsuits,” she said. “We have a whole new line of basics. If they have a low-cut dress and need coverage, we have chest and neck pieces.”
Dadsi added that her business is only growing, with plans for a second location coming soon.
“I feel like modest dressing has so many varieties, there’s so many colors, so many patterns,” she said. “The sky’s the limit.”