UAE designers script a new language of modesty through their silhouettes

An abaya can reveal its character through the smallest shift: a precisely placed seam, a translucent organza layer, the weight of crepe as it falls from the shoulder or a line of gold embroidery that catches the light only when its wearer moves. The modern jalabiya speaks with equal subtlety, moving through soft lavender, mint and blush, floral details and silhouettes designed for homes, celebrations and public life. Across the UAE, these garments have become highly articulate expressions of the women who wear them. Emirati designers and creative voices from the country’s multicultural fashion community are shaping this evolution through construction, colour and craft, guided by heritage and the individual identities of their clients.

For Heba Al Jasmi, the Emirati designer behind ZAY and CLAY, modernity begins with precision. Her approach examines the abaya and jalabiya through their construction as closely as their drape, bringing exact cuts, balanced proportions and occasion-wear finishing to clothes intended for many parts of a woman’s life.

“At ZAY and CLAY, contemporary doesn’t mean distant from tradition, it means precision,” she says. Modesty, ease of movement and a clear sense of purpose remain essential to the garment. The development happens through the details: the setting of a seam, the behaviour of the fabric and the ease with which a piece travels between different environments.

Raushan Tilani, a Kazakh designer who now calls Dubai home, begins from a similar respect for the garment’s established language. She identifies modesty, elegance, fluidity and cultural meaning as its defining qualities, then works with proportion, fabric, construction and styling to introduce a different perspective.

Her designs include the fitted Aylin chapan, coordinated three-piece sets and abayas made from linen and velour. Each offers coverage and grace with additional structure and greater freedom in styling. “Modernisation should never erase tradition; it should allow the garment to speak to a new generation,” she says.

Black retains its commanding place in Emirati wardrobes, with designers asking it to perform in increasingly varied ways. At ZAY, Al Jasmi uses crepe to create structure, while chiffon and organza bring movement. Tulle introduces volume and ceremony to pieces intended for more elevated occasions.

The colour’s longevity lies partly in this adaptability. A black abaya can appear architectural or diaphanous, restrained or dramatic. Fabric, proportion and finish determine how it is read. This range also reflects the expectations of women who want a garment capable of serving several purposes without losing its identity.

“It hasn’t lost its place; it’s simply expected to do more,” Al Jasmi says.

Tilani also sees continued interest in enduring neutrals, including black, ivory, cream, beige and white. Around these foundations, the palette is becoming broader and more personal. Latte, stone, khaki, camel and chocolate offer tonal richness, while bordeaux, coral, soft pink and marine blue introduce greater intensity. Multicoloured patterns create another avenue for women who want their clothes to carry a more visible sense of character.

The shift towards colour is especially evident at CLAY, where Al Jasmi works with peach, blush, mint, soft lavender, pastel yellow and off-white across kaftans and jalabiyas. Embellishment is often concentrated in gold embroidery and floral details, allowing the fabric and silhouette to remain clearly visible.

The existence of two separate labels gives Al Jasmi room to address the different impulses inside one wardrobe. ZAY is grounded in the expressive possibilities of black, while CLAY explores softer colours and a wider emotional register. “Emirati women are no longer choosing between tradition and expression,” she says. “They’re asking for both, often within the same week.”

The development of the abaya has followed the expanding public, professional and social lives of Emirati women. A single wardrobe may need to accommodate a boardroom, a formal evening, international travel and a family majlis. The garment has consequently become more responsive, with closures, layers, tailoring and decoration shaped around movement and changing settings.

“The abaya has evolved because the women wearing it evolved first,” Al Jasmi says. “Today’s Emirati woman may lead a company, attend a red-carpet event, and sit in a family majlis within the same week. She requires a garment built for range, not for a single register.”

This reality informs almost every design decision at ZAY and CLAY. Closures and layers allow pieces to move from day into evening. Precise tailoring gives the abaya a deliberate elegance. Embellishment follows the body and responds to movement, giving decoration a structural role within the design.

For Tilani, the same changes have encouraged lighter textiles, sharper tailoring and coordinated separates. A linen abaya can provide ease during the day. A chiffon dress or patterned chapan can bring a stronger visual identity to an evening or cultural gathering. Embroidered linen trousers, poplin blouses, viscose separates and structured jackets give women additional ways to layer their clothes.

These components make modest dressing increasingly adaptable. A woman can alter the effect of an outfit through the choice of an inner dress, jacket, scarf or turban. The result feels connected to established ideas of coverage while leaving considerable space for individual styling.

“Emirati women have demonstrated that modesty does not require uniformity; it can be highly personal, expressive and contemporary,” Tilani says.

Fabric plays a central role in achieving that flexibility. Tilani combines airy linen and chiffon with jacquard, velour and quilted textiles. Fluid dresses and abayas sit alongside fitted chapans and three-piece sets. Her Ayzere and Aisha chapans feature patterns that bring energy to the silhouette, while the bordeaux velour abaya relies on colour and texture for depth. A coral quilted chapan carries a more graphic presence.

Embroidery, scarves and statement turbans complete the designs, alongside petroglyph and horse motifs drawn from Central Asian visual traditions. These details give Tilani’s work a recognisable cultural vocabulary and introduce another heritage into Dubai’s modest-fashion landscape.

Tilani’s presence in this conversation reflects the UAE’s place as an exchange point for designers and textile traditions. Her family has worked with design and textiles for generations, and her practice carries memories of Kazakhstan into clothes made for women in Dubai. Through Design Dome, the cultural and lifestyle space she co-founded at City Walk, she and her family bring together fashion, art, music, coffee and conversation.

The space allows different disciplines and communities to meet under one roof. It also gives Tilani a setting in which Kazakh heritage can be shared through clothing, design and cultural programming. Her ability to communicate across languages and her earlier experience in banking add further dimensions to a career now centred on tailoring, clothing design and turban styling.

Dubai provides a particularly fertile setting for this exchange. Designers encounter women whose wardrobes draw from Emirati customs, regional dress, international fashion and family histories spanning several countries. The abaya and jalabiya remain culturally specific garments, and the wider modest-fashion world surrounding them continues to absorb new fabrics, styling ideas and forms of craftsmanship.

The strongest designs emerge from an understanding of cultural context. Tilani’s chapans retain their Central Asian identity, while their styling allows them to enter wardrobes shaped by life in the UAE. Al Jasmi’s work begins inside Emirati experience, with close attention to the daily realities and aesthetic preferences of local women. Their perspectives meet in a shared belief that clothing can carry history and remain open to change.

Personal identity has consequently become one of the most important forces in contemporary modest fashion. Women are choosing silhouettes according to how they want to feel and move. Colour can convey softness, confidence or ceremony. Fabric can supply ease, structure or drama. Embroidery can connect a garment to place, family memory or a particular artistic tradition.

The wearer completes the design through her choice of layers, accessories and setting. Al Jasmi describes an Emirati woman who expects the abaya to carry the same intention as every other part of her wardrobe. The garment occupies a visible and purposeful place in her presentation of herself.

“She is no longer asking the abaya to recede,” Al Jasmi says. “She is asking it to carry the same intention as everything else she wears.”

That sense of authorship has particular resonance during Emirati Women’s Day, which celebrates the achievements and influence of women across the country. For Al Jasmi, the occasion reflects the principle on which ZAY and CLAY were founded: an Emirati woman can honour her origins while deciding who she wishes to be in each moment.

She established the two labels nearly a decade ago after recognising the different ways women wanted to dress, including the varied instincts that could exist within a single wardrobe. That understanding has continued into HEBAJASMI, her couture house, where the same attention to identity extends to eveningwear and bridal gowns.

“Every piece we make, an abaya or a bridal gown, exists for a woman stepping into a moment that matters to her,” she says. “This day is a reminder of how much sits inside a single piece of clothing, and what a privilege it is to be trusted with it.”

Tilani views Emirati Women’s Day through her own experiences as a designer, professional and mother of two. She sees it as a celebration of women who carry their heritage with confidence and take an active role in shaping the future. The balance feels closely connected to her work with traditional silhouettes, elaborate chapans, elegant abayas and sculptural turbans.

“Clothing is more than fabric; it can communicate identity, independence, elegance and purpose,” she says.