Salam My Lovelies!

This past fall I joined Haute Hijab full time as the Creative Director, and it has been an absolute honor and joy being welcomed into this wonderful family.

As a couture wedding gown designer by trade, I have been trained to consider every detail of a garment—from the directional weave of the fabric, to the exact stitch being used when transforming it into a product. There is currently a huge gap in the hijab space, and people don’t realize that a headcovering needs as much care, design, and consideration as a gown. A hijab is not an accessory as much as it is an extension of your wardrobe and as a result, if hijab is hurting you in any way, then the production and design are simply wrong. My passion lies in bringing together beauty and function. So regardless of what I design, the way you look and feel in your hijab will always be my number one priority.

Growing up as an Egyptian-American Muslim in Westport, Connecticut, I am no stranger to the struggles of being a minority. As a child, I never knew any Muslims other than my immediate family and upholding my faith in an environment where I was the only one practicing it was extremely lonely. That said, I always had two very strong role models in the faith: my mother and grandmother. They taught me at a young age that modesty is beautiful because it centers your humility and encourages the outside world to focus on your character, free from distraction.

While the women that raised me took great pride in the outfits they wore and loved to dress up, it was made very clear to me that good character and principals were what made a woman of substance, not her exterior adornments.

 

I grew up as an only child with an abundance of alone time so I always had to find creative ways to keep myself entertained. As television wasn’t allowed at home, I had to improvise to have fun—singing, dancing, baking, sculpting, drawing, building, and sewing—which always kept me in an imaginative land and a state of constant innovation. Because of this, I’ve always been an artist and a creator, living each day trying to make the world a more beautiful place. I find spiritual purpose in this work since we are encouraged as Muslims to leave any space or situation better than how we found it.

Eventually, I left home to study at Cornell University where I graduated with a degree in Fiber Science and Apparel Design. After graduating I held positions in American fashion companies as diverse as Giorgio Armani, Hanes/Champion, and Tommy Hilfiger, which gave me exposure to the fashion industry across many different categories and products.

Afterward, I was presented with the opportunity to travel to Kuwait and design couture gowns exclusively for the royal family. This experience taught me how to cater to the needs of individual clients as well as provided me with an introduction to designing Modest Fashion.

In the Middle East I found myself creatively. The visual aesthetic of the culture allowed me to spread my wings and push my design ideas with concepts as unheard of as gold wedding gowns, engagement dresses made of upholstery fabric and avant-garde gowns built from thousands of pastel silk flowers. I knew that I had found the right setting to finally build my own label. In 2010, I founded Gizelle Couture and by 2016 we had grown to be one of the largest couture design houses in Egypt. We were disrupting the fashion scene all over the Middle East and my largest challenge was figuring out how to scale appropriately as our orders and acclaim grew.

However, in 2016, my mother was diagnosed with ALS, a degenerative disease that unfortunately has no cure (yet). Though this would mean the end of my burgeoning business, I immediately packed up my life and moved back to the US, an obvious choice to support the most important and inspirational woman in my life. 

As fate would have it, shortly after moving home, I found Haute Hijab. To be given the opportunity at this point in my career to do what I love - design - while working for an organization that has a greater social mission, is nothing short of a gift from God.

If hijab is hurting you in any way, then the production and design are simply wrong.

I’ve spent my career designing for different companies all around the world, and I can’t help but think that it was all meant to prepare me for this journey with you at Haute Hijab. I am here to listen to your concerns, address your needs, and ultimately apply my skills, training and abilities to create products that will make your life easier and delight you in ways you never imagined.

The Haute Hijab team is shaking up the industry by creating an entire new category in the fashion space and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of this adventure.

Much Love,

Gizelle Begler