On this week's episode, I spoke to the super stylish, absolutely wonderful, and very insightful, Hafsa Lodi about her book, Modesty: A Fashion Paradox.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about fashion, or what it means to be fashionable.  I'm typically seen wearing clashing colours, outfits just thrown together and odd socks. :) However, I am really intrigued by the way the modest fashion industry around the world, and especially in the UK, has grown over the last 10 years. I'm particularly interested in whether something so inward and holding moral weight, 'modesty', can go hand-in-hand with something that it concerned with outward appearance, 'fashion'. Hafsa explores this question and more in her book, and we talk about SO many things in this episode. 

Modesty: A Fashion Paradox is published by Neem Tree Books. 

Hafsa Lodi is an American journalist who has been covering fashion in the Middle East for the past decade. She was born in New York City, and at the age of 14 relocated to the United Arab Emirates with her family, where she attended Dubai American Academy while interning after school with one of the region’s leading publishing houses, ITP.

After completing her undergraduate studies at the Ryerson School of Journalism in Toronto, Hafsa moved to London for a year, where she earned her master’s degree in Islamic Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies. The relationships between religion, culture and modernity have always fascinated Hafsa, who covered topics like honour killings in Canada’s South Asian communities, the use of DNA evidence in rape cases in Pakistan and the industrialization of the Holy city of Makkah, before turning to the fashion journalism beat. While living in Dubai, Hafsa has written for The National newspaper, Luxury Magazine, Mojeh Magazine, Velvet Magazine, Savoir Flair and Vogue India, in addition to working as an online fashion editor for one of the Middle East’s largest luxury retailers, Boutique 1. She is a freelance stylist, and also has a part-time clothing line, creating whimsical maxi-cardigans and kaftans during Ramadan, and statement hand-embellished sweatshirts for the winter seasons.

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