The MAYSAA Photoshoot

Taking you behind the scenes at the photo shoot for MAYSAA's debut collection

Creating the Vision

With an amazing team, and the incredibly talented photographer Lara Jade, bringing MAYSAA’s debut collection to life was the perfect starting point for us. I wanted to do justice to you guys and inshAllah exceed peoples expectations, it was a hectic day but an amazing experience.

Bridging the gap

The collection ‘The edge of elegance’ needed strong models and an editorial edge to break away from the stereotypical image of Islamic clothing. I wanted images that would make people look twice because you wouldn’t immediately see them as Islamic fashion. I want women to feel they can love these clothes whether or not they are Muslim. At the same time I don’t want to ignore all those beautiful hijabis who were the inspiration for MAYSAA, or to dilute my identity as a Muslimah. It’s a fine line to tread and it runs deeper than just fashion, but working with an amazing team helped me to find the balance.

On set action: Model Neeru, with Perry (hair) and Kanako (make-up). Technicians getting everything set up.

What happened

It started with hair and make-up and a lot of ironing! Every look had to be put together on our beautiful models Nhuc and Neeru and then they were ready for set. Behind the lens was Lara Jade, her work in fashion photography is incredible, and I don’t know if I would have felt happy using anyone else for this shoot. I have to say that I was more than a little nervous about meeting everyone with preconceptions of the industry, but everyone was so nice.

On the second day documentary makers came to shoot a short behind the scenes film. They interviewed the team and asked me a few questions, none of which I can remember now! I only have vague recollections of those few minutes so I hope it turned out OK! The shoot ran over two days, and by the end sure that we had those striking images we wrapped things up. I am so grateful to everyone who worked on the shoot, it was an amazing experience and I can’t wait for the next one!