We started because a word is not a measurement

Shekinah Wear began with fourteen dresses on a bedroom floor, all described as “maxi”, all measuring something different. The shortest was 108cm from the shoulder. The longest was 143cm.

For most shoppers that is an irritation. If you dress modestly it is the difference between a piece you wear every week and a piece that hangs with its tags on, because the photograph told you nothing about where the hem would land or whether the fabric would hold up on a bright afternoon.

We decided to specify coverage the way a technical brand specifies performance, and to stop asking customers to guess.

Where it is made

We manufacture in small batches between a workroom outside Leicester and a second in Porto, in runs of no more than forty pieces a colourway. Small runs cost more per garment and give us one thing worth paying for: we can change a sleeve length between batches when someone writes to say it runs short. We have done exactly that twice.

What the name means

Shekinah is a Hebrew word for the dwelling — the settled, visible presence. It is a name about light rather than concealment, which is the distinction the whole label rests on. Our customers dress modestly for reasons of their own, Christian and Muslim and Jewish and none, and we have no interest in adjudicating any of them. We make the clothes and publish the numbers.

The standard we hold

Nothing publishes without all nine coverage fields filled in. Opacity is scored against a north-facing window at midday, not under studio lights. If a garment arrives and does not match its score, we re-test the fabric, change the number on the site, and write to everyone who bought it.