Aab

Nazmin Alim founded Aab in London in 2007, at a point when modest RTW had almost no presence in mainstream British retail. Getting into John Lewis and Debenhams was a structural argument, not a style one — it proved the market existed before the market believed in itself. The range now covers hijabs in chiffon silk, modal, and organic cotton alongside abayas, co-ords, and activewear, which is a broad sweep. The Hijab Magnet is the kind of functional detail that gets overlooked in conversations about modest fashion design but matters considerably to the wearer. Seventeen years in, Aab occupies the reliable-staples position more than the directional one — a deliberate trade-off that the category still needs someone to make.