00:02New York City. It's loud, fast and colorful. It's filled with every kind of style imaginable.
00:09I'm here to do a story that's quintessentially New York. It's one about celebrating tradition
00:14while forging your own path. This, however, is not your typical New York fashion story.
00:21We're headed across the river into Brooklyn to a neighborhood known as Crown Heights.
00:25It's the epicenter of a deeply observant and mystical form of Judaism, where everyday life is dictated by the guidelines
00:33of the Torah.
00:35Here, two Hasidic Jewish designers are taking fashion inspiration from their faith.
00:39A lot of people, when they hear Hasidic fashion, they imagine women who are just dressed in, like, all black,
00:45with the stockings, maybe outdated shoes.
00:48Mimi and Mushki are mothers, wives to two rabbis, and partners in a new and specialized design business.
00:56Nobody in the Jewish world has, like, started a line that would appeal to people who aren't even interested in
01:00modest fashion.
01:01What do we want to wear? What are we not finding? Let's just make it ourselves.
01:04So how do you walk that line between being fashion-forward and also sticking to your traditions?
01:09We're not about suppressing your beauty or self-expression. It's about doing it within the channel of Judaism.
01:14It can be done, and I think that's why people are excited about what we're doing.
01:19In Hasidim, life is dictated by a spiritual rhythm. There is a specific way to do everything, from how to
01:25pray, what to eat, and the importance of what you wear.
01:28You'd say, well, what does fashion have to do with religion? It's just the outside layer, but the outside layer
01:34is really important, and it's a reflection of one's inside.
01:37Basic laws are covering your elbows, your knees, and your collarbone. I mean, that's really it.
01:42That's really it.
01:43The guidelines aren't there to, like, shackle you down and say, you know, don't even, like, think about clothing.
01:48The spirit of modesty, it's very confident, it's something very beautiful.
01:52For Mimi and Mushki, modesty is about so much more than just fashion. It's a mitzvah, a commandment or good
02:00deed.
02:00Every single mitzvah that we are commanded, both men and women, is about a way of connecting to God.
02:06The Jewish woman actually covering those areas is about keeping the power of who you are and maintaining the power
02:13and sacredness of sexuality.
02:15We totally adhere to all our traditions, customs, and laws, but do it in a more fun, open way.
02:22To help me understand more about Hasidic tradition and modesty, Mimi and Mushki invite me to join them at an
02:28unusual place, a salon for wigs.
02:32We all cover our hair at Orthodox Jews, and it's a beautiful commandment, a mitzvah.
02:37When we do get married, your hair becomes a more private and special and sacred thing that should remain between
02:42you and your husband and your family.
02:44This is real hair, so you can touch it. Better than my hair.
02:48There's never been dyed, it's very like raw and fine.
02:52So you just constantly have good hair days there now?
02:55That's what you would think, but it's actually no, they take maintenance.
02:58People who like one day you see them they're running long and the next day short.
03:00I think I would.
03:01Switch it up, why not?
03:02The only thing is that they're like thousands and thousands of dollars each, so you may not be able to
03:07afford one for every day.
03:09I guess some people would see it as almost repressive, but tell me about your attitude towards it.
03:14The mitzvahs that we keep are something that's like beautiful and adds to our life, much like wearing a wig.
03:19It's not about repressing or covering up necessarily, but it's about empowering what's actually essentially already there.
03:26Okay, so I think we should try on some styles.
03:29This is big.
03:31How far blue is this?
03:33You look like a turtle bee.
03:34You look amazing!
03:36Like a much more serious business professional with your power.
03:39Bang.
03:40Okay, let's do me now.
03:43That's actually really cool on.
03:44Yeah, it's like a personal transformation.
03:48Now we've got to get you a long dress.
03:50Southern kids!
03:53But how does their spirituality get spelled out in clothing?
03:57We're obviously always looking back into our customs and laws, and it's all about translating everything.
04:03Even people who aren't religious always have to find a way to translate who they are and their deeper beliefs
04:07into how they dress.
04:11Mushki is like our sample size, so we just like show on Mushki what we want to be happening, how
04:15we want it to be draping,
04:15and Raju, we work with him on every detail.
04:18He brings it to life.
04:20We just designed this about a month ago.
04:23I love the color of this!
04:26Yeah, this is exactly what we wanted, Raju.
04:29It's not a contradiction to be modest and to be trendy or to look good.
04:33Right now, there's so much modesty in mainstream fashion.
04:37The Roe, Mary-Kate and Ashley, we love their energy, their style.
04:41You have Kate Middleton, she just does it so well and it's so beautiful,
04:44and I think it's changing the way people think about clothing and modesty.
04:49I'm starting to understand that while Mimi and Mushki's appearance may be dictated by their faith,
04:55they aren't hindered by it.
04:57It's something that makes them feel beautiful, that they have fun with.
05:08At a pop-up shop in the neighborhood, Mimi and Mushki are showing off their latest designs
05:13and connecting with a surprising group of women outside of their own community.
05:17We're not the only religion that keeps certain laws of modesty.
05:21Through Mimi Maxi, we've found a way to relate to lots of Christian women and Muslim women
05:26who also dress modest and who are benefiting from our clothing.
05:29My faith is most important to me, so fashion is definitely secondary,
05:32but I love, you know, being able to make the two work.
05:36Clothing can be this kind of neutral territory that brings cultures together,
05:39and through this we've connected with so many Muslim women.
05:43Can I tell you how much I admire your work, like honestly?
05:46You're like the Muslim equivalent of like so much of what we feel and go through,
05:49making religion cool.
05:51And getting rid of the stereotype.
05:53As women, we already live in such a binary world.
05:55You're like, you're smart or you're sexy.
05:56You're a good girl or you're a bad girl.
05:58Now you're like a Muslim or a Jew.
05:59It's amazing to see how this clothing can bring together women of different faiths.
06:04Modest clothing is more than just wearing the right garment.
06:07It's a representation of who they are.
06:10As Orthodox Jewish women, we can take inspiration from anything.
06:14Just because we're modest fashion designers doesn't mean we can't appreciate it.
06:18You can make anything modest, and you can take a style and turn it into something that is possible to
06:24wear modestly.
06:25The way you dress is everything.
06:26I mean, there's a reason why fashion is such a big deal,
06:28and everyone, no matter what style you are, is interested in the way they dress to communicate who they are.
06:33The powerful and confident women I met remind me that fashion is a message to the world.
06:39About who you are, or who you want to be.
06:42What you wear on the outside should be a reflection of what's going on inside.
