For the first time ever in fashion history, a Muslim modeling agency has opened in New York City and I was there to take it all in.  There was so much excitement and energy that night and as these beautiful girls walked around the room, taking pictures, networking and posing in their beautifully designed clothing, I felt a sense of pride and curiosity.

Designer and founder Nailah Lymus has been a clothing and accessory designer since 2004.  She strategically unveiled the new modeling agency, which is called “Underwraps” during the buzz of New York Fashion Week.  Nailiah is truly hitting the world with a whole new view on style in hopes to help bridge the gap between modesty and fashion.  Following the extremely controversial ban of a veil covering the face (niqab) in France back in April of 2011, Nailah is definitely pushing the envelope and showing that you can follow your own personal religious beliefs while still being able to adhere to your own unique sense of fashion.

Nailah is Brooklyn born and self taught in the art of design.  She began by designing children’s wear when working at a boutique some years back and most recently crossed over into women’s wear, featuring her collection during fashion week last year.  She brings her faith based retention of modesty in dress and her flair and love for fashion and marries the two beautifully.  There were definitely some pieces that were shown during the launch that piqued the fashionistas in me.  I could certainly see non Muslim women wearing many of the featured looks.

For years, we have seen Muslim and other religious and culturally inspired styles in many areas, especially in high fashion.  From designers like Paul Smith to the runways of Victoria Beckham’s fall collection, we see head wraps, abayas and other Middle Eastern and Muslim inspiration being intertwined into these collections.  These types of designs have adorned the covers of quite a few high fashion magazines, including Vogue and there have been an onslaught of models that area in the Muslim faith getting more recognition in this industry.   Most recently, Tunisian born Muslim, Hanna Ben Abdesslem became the face for Lancome.

Nailah plans on continuing to push the bar and shatter many misunderstandings about women that are in her faith, including ones like women not being allowed to work, or having to be in full abaya garb at all times.   Her goal is to allow these beautiful, energetic and strong-minded models that are under her to be able to work with mainstream designers without losing their ideals and values.  I wish this agency all the best and look forward to seeing these girls gracing the catwalks for the next New York Fashion Week!  Visit the agency website to learn more. You can also follow Nailah on Twitter.

Qiana L Williams
Singer/songwriter and author, Qiana Williams uses her professional fashion background to report on the hottest in trend and style for men and women, beauty and more.  You can gain access to more of her writing and sneak a peek at her upcoming novel on her face book fan page and follow her on twitter.

For more articles like Underwraps Modeling Agency Launched During Fashion Week, please visit the NYC Stories Section of TimesSquare.com