Spring 2026 — a letter from Aisha

I've never been great at season letters — mostly because the people I'm writing to are the ones actually wearing the clothes, and you can see the collection for yourself. So instead of walking through every piece, I'll tell you about the three I'd put in my own bag this season.

The Inaya Linen Shirtdress is the one I've worn the most during sample rounds. Belgian linen, pre-washed, so it doesn't stiffen after the first wear. Long enough to wear with nothing underneath; roomy enough to wear over the Mariam jersey set on a plane. It's the dress I keep folding in and out of a suitcase.

The Basma Velvet Abaya in plum is the first piece we've made with a real crush finish on a silk-velvet. We sampled it in four colours. Plum won because it reads almost black indoors and almost burgundy under warm light — my favourite kind of colour, the one that makes the photograph look wrong until you see it in person.

The Safiya Printed Maxi took six months. Our illustrator Merve Kılıç did twelve rounds of the botanical. We pulled and re-ran the screen three times to get the weight of the ink right against the ecru cotton. It's only in sizes XS–XL this season because we got the proportion right on those grades first and I didn't want to rush the XXL before we got it perfect. It'll be back in XXL for autumn.

On the burgundy: I was asked in an interview last month why our signature colour is burgundy and I gave a long answer about colour theory. The real answer is that the first abaya I sewed myself, in 2020, was in a burgundy crepe I found on Dragon Mart because it was the only bolt in my budget. I kept wearing it. The colour stayed.

See you out there.

— Aisha