How to Become a Modest or Hijab Model in the UK — TDA

The Diversity Agency, London. Founded 2016. One of the UK's most established modest and hijabi rosters — Muslim faces, modest dress, hijab and non-hijab — representing talent across UK fashion, beauty, e-commerce and lifestyle casting.

How to become a modest or hijab model in the UK

Modest modelling in the UK has gone from invisible to standard in less than a decade. Brands that never used to cast modest models — high street, beauty, lifestyle, luxury — now build modest into the brief. Behind that shift is a real, working community of UK modest and hijabi models who turn up, deliver the work, and have changed what UK casting briefs ask for in the process.

The infrastructure has finally caught up too. Agencies with dedicated modest boards, bookers who understand cultural protocols, and clients who'd rather brief a modest specialist than try to "diversify" their existing mainboard. The Diversity Agency was founded in 2016 specifically to build that infrastructure. This guide is for aspiring modest and hijabi models in the UK: what the category actually covers, what TDA's Modest board looks like, what bookers scan for, and how to apply.

What "modest" actually means in UK modelling

Modest modelling covers a spectrum. At one end: full hijabi modelling — headscarf, modest dress, covered arms and legs. At the other: modest styling without a hijab — covered arms, longer skirts, higher necklines, but hair uncovered. In between sit a lot of variations: turbans, abayas, soft-drape hijabs with some hair visible, modest swimwear, modest activewear, and modest dress for Orthodox Jewish or evangelical Christian briefs.

TDA's Modest board signs across the full spectrum. Some models work exclusively hijabi briefs. Some work both modest and non-modest briefs depending on the client. Some are non-Muslim modest specialists. The board is built around the brief, not a single religion. The shared requirement: the model treats modest casting as part of their craft, not as a temporary styling choice.

Why UK modest modelling is now standard

Five years ago, modest casting was a "special project" most UK agencies couldn't staff properly. Today it's standard. Modest brands like Aab, Inayah, Modanisa, ASOS Modest and The Modist (until it closed) built dedicated modest collections that needed modest casting. High street brands followed — Marks & Spencer, Mango, Zara, H&M have all built modest into seasonal collections. Beauty brands cast hijabi models for halal-certified ranges and for campaigns that don't want to homogenise their UK customer base. Nike Pro Hijab opened a whole modest activewear category. Lifestyle and commercial briefs increasingly include hijabi talent because the brand's UK customer base does.

The 2015 Mariah Idrissi / H&M moment — the first hijabi model in a major UK high-street campaign — was treated as a one-off. It turned out to be the start of a category. Ten years on, hijabi and modest modelling is a working part of the UK industry.

The types of modest modelling work

Modest modelling in the UK spans several distinct brief types. The Modest board at TDA covers all of these:

E-commerce — modest brand catalogues

Aab, Inayah, Modanisa, ASOS Modest, plus the modest lines of every major high-street retailer. Volume work, consistent booking cycle. Most signed modest models build early income here.

Beauty & skincare

A particularly strong area for hijabi models — the hijab frames the face and brings the eyes, brows and complexion forward. Brands running halal-certified ranges (skincare, makeup) increasingly cast hijabi models specifically. Usage fees often sit on top of strong day rates.

Editorial fashion

UK editions of Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, plus emerging modest titles and culture magazines (Azeema, gal-dem before closure, Modest Magazine). Editorial pays less but builds a model's portfolio in a way that pulls higher-tier commercial work later.

Commercial & lifestyle

Telecoms, banking, supermarkets, holiday brands, charity. The briefs explicitly want modest and hijabi representation in cast. Day rates run higher, with longer media licences attached.

Modest swimwear & activewear

A growing category. Modanisa, Nike Pro Hijab, Aab activewear, smaller modest swimwear specialists. The brief requires confidence in motion while modest.

Runway

London Modest Fashion Week, dedicated brand presentations, and increasingly mainstream London Fashion Week shows. Walking experience builds quickly once a model is in the rotation.

Fit modelling

Modest brands need fit models for their own size patterns, especially for abayas, hijab styles, modest jumpsuits and modest swimwear. Quiet, consistent work for models with stable measurements.

Hijab vs modest dress — knowing where you fit

The distinction TDA's bookers make when reading an application:

Hijabi modelling. Models who wear the headscarf in their day-to-day life and only model in hijab and modest dress. Most consistent brief flow because brands hiring hijabi specifically need a hijabi specifically.

Modest, non-hijabi. Models who dress modestly (covered arms and legs, higher necklines, longer skirts) but don't cover their hair. Wider brief range — picks up modest fashion work, modest beauty briefs that don't require hijab, and standard commercial work where modest dress is acceptable.

Both. Some models work hijabi when the brief calls for it and non-hijabi when it doesn't. Rarer in practice because brands cast for a specific look, but a working option.

What TDA doesn't do: ask a hijabi model to remove her hijab for a brief. That ask immediately disqualifies the brand from the agency's books. The booker's job is to find the right model for the brief, not to negotiate the model out of her practice.

Measurements and stats — what UK modest agencies want

Same checklist as any board. Specifically for the Modest board:

• Dress size: any. Modest casting is not size-restricted — Modest and Curve overlap.
• Height: 5'5" upwards for fashion, anything for beauty and commercial.
• Bust, waist, hips: measured in inches, not estimated.
• Hijab style range: list the styles the model is comfortable wearing — full drape, turban, soft drape, no hijab (for non-hijabi modest). The booker matches this against the brief.
• Skin tone, ethnicity: TDA represents the full ethnic range within modest modelling — South Asian, Arab, North African, Sub-Saharan African, mixed-race, and Caucasian convert models.
• Religious practice notes: brief notes on prayer-time needs, halal catering, and any requirements around male photographers / mixed-gender sets. The booker uses these to brief production teams in advance.

Beyond stats, the casting decision comes down to face, eyes (especially important when the hijab frames the face), confidence on camera, and how the model carries modest dress. There's no single modest body type.

Ethnic diversity within modest modelling

UK modest modelling is one of the most genuinely ethnically diverse categories in the industry. The TDA Modest board includes Asian, South Asian, Arab, North African, Sub-Saharan African, mixed-race and Caucasian convert models. Brands casting modest now expect ethnically representative shortlists — and a casting director who can't deliver a shortlist of Asian, South Asian, Arab and Black hijabi models alongside the lighter-skinned options has a structural problem.

For aspiring modest models from any of those backgrounds: the demand from UK brands is real. Applications from underrepresented modest categories — Black hijabi, South Asian hijabi, mixed-race modest — are read with particular interest by TDA's booking team.

What TDA's bookers scan for in a modest application

Same checklist as any application, with three specific weightings for modest briefs:

1. Confidence in hijab and modest dress on camera

The biggest single signal. A hijabi model who holds her frame in hijab — who knows her best angles, doesn't fidget with the drape, looks comfortable — books seasons of work. A model who looks like she's wearing the hijab for the photo, not for life, doesn't.

2. Eyes, brows and skin

The hijab frames the face and brings the eyes, brows and complexion forward. Beauty briefs lean heavily on these. Clear skin, defined brows, expressive eyes — all read more strongly with hijab than without.

3. Communication of religious requirements

The application should briefly note any practice requirements — prayer time on set, halal catering, modest set conditions, any restrictions on team mix. None of this disqualifies an applicant. It tells the booker what to brief the brand on, in advance, so the day runs cleanly.

What gets modest applicants rejected

The mistakes the booking team sees most often:

• Mixed signals on hijab. Sometimes covered, sometimes not, in the same digitals set. If you wear hijab, send hijab. If you don't, send modest without.
• Posing that contradicts the modesty intent. Tight clothing, suggestive angles, heavy makeup in hijabi digitals. Brands looking for hijabi casting want hijabi casting, not hijab as decoration on otherwise-standard mainboard shots.
• Poor lighting on the face. Hijab already restricts the face area; underexposed digitals make it harder for the booker to read.
• Heavy filters and editing. Same as any application. Bookers want unfiltered skin.
• Performative descriptions of religious practice. A short, factual note on requirements is what the booker needs. Long statements of faith or aspirations belong in a personal letter, not an application.

Building digitals for a modest application

The four standard shots, modest-aware:

1. Front head-and-shoulders: wearing your usual hijab style (or modest dress without hijab if non-hijabi). Daylight, plain background, no heavy makeup, neutral expression.
2. Side profile: same hijab/modest setup, head turned to one side.
3. Full body, front: modest dress — fitted-but-not-tight cuts that show shape without sacrificing modesty. Bare or simple trainers.
4. Full body, back: same outfit, facing away from the camera.

For hijabi applicants who wear multiple styles regularly (full drape, turban, soft drape), include a second front shot in the alternative style. Bookers match models against briefs by style range, so showing two is genuinely useful.

Phone camera is fine. Plain wall, daylight from a window, no flash. The booker is looking for the face and how the model carries hijab/modest dress, not the photography.

If a hijabi model isn't comfortable in her own digitals, she won't be comfortable on set. Send the version you actually wear.

What year one looks like for a signed modest model

Months 1–3 — onboarding and tests. New signings go through TDA's onboarding programme. For modest signings the booker walks through set-side protocols specifically: prayer-time briefing for production teams, halal-catering requests, hijab-styling notes for stylists, and any team-mix preferences. First test shoots happen in the first 4–8 weeks with vetted photographers familiar with modest modelling.

Months 3–6 — first castings. Bookers put the new signing on UK e-commerce shortlists, modest brand briefs, beauty castings and lifestyle work. Modest signings often book their first paid job inside this window — modest e-comm is a steady starting point.

Months 6–12 — consistency. A signed modest model with reliable availability, professional set conduct, and a portfolio that grows shoot by shoot becomes a repeat-book for the brands she fits. By month 12, the strongest modest signings have a small list of clients — usually modest brands and beauty brands — that request them specifically.

It's not glamorous in year one. It's early call times, careful set prep, and a portfolio that builds slowly. The models who build careers are the ones who treat it as a working job and hold their practice firmly while doing it.

Why TDA's Modest board exists

TDA was founded in 2016 because the UK agency landscape was failing entire categories of talent. Modest and hijabi was one of the loudest examples. The brief from brands was changing — H&M had cast Mariah Idrissi, ASOS was launching ASOS Modest, Aab was scaling — but the agencies that controlled UK casting weren't building modest rosters to match.

The Modest board sits alongside Mainboard, Curve, Classic, Family, Hands and Feet — under one roof, managed by the same booking team that handles every other board. That structure matters because it means there's a booker who knows how to manage a modest brief end-to-end: from the application read, to the casting shortlist, to the production-team briefing, to the model's set comfort on the day. Brands hiring TDA's Modest board don't get a sub-agency; they get the full agency, with the practical expertise modest casting needs built in.

How to apply to TDA's Modest board

The application form is at thediversity.agency/apply. It's the same form for every board — applicants select Modest in the board field. The agency needs:

• The four digital shots described above (front head-and-shoulders, side profile, full body front, full body back), in the model's usual hijab or modest dress.
• Full stats: dress size, bust, waist, hips, height, eye colour, skin tone, age, location.
• Hijab style range — full drape, turban, soft drape, no hijab, etc.
• A short note on religious practice requirements (prayer time, halal catering, team-mix preferences) and any previous modelling work.

The booking team reads every Modest application that comes in. Responses go out within a week, yes or no.

To see the existing Modest roster first, browse the Modest board here. For a deeper read on what bookers look for across all boards, the criteria piece is here.

Frequently asked

Will I be asked to remove my hijab for a brief?

No. TDA does not put hijabi models on briefs that require hijab removal. If a brand asks for that, the booker pushes back. If the brand insists, the booking goes elsewhere.

What if I wear hijab sometimes but not always?

Tell the booker. The board can handle both modes, but consistency on a given brief matters — pick which version of the model the agency is putting forward for that casting. Mixed-mode signings are workable; mixed-mode submissions for the same job aren't.

Are there halal-only briefs?

Yes. Beauty especially — halal-certified makeup and skincare brands now cast Muslim models for their UK campaigns. Some have explicit halal-only briefs; many simply prefer to cast Muslim models for halal-product launches.

What about prayer time on set?

Standard practice at TDA. The booker briefs production in advance — a 5-to-10 minute break at the relevant prayer times, plus access to a clean private space for wudu. Brands that won't accommodate this don't book through TDA's Modest board.

Do non-Muslim modest models get booked?

Yes. Modest fashion has a wider customer base than the Muslim community — Orthodox Jewish, evangelical Christian, and secular modest customers all exist, and brands cast accordingly. Non-Muslim modest applicants are welcome.

Do brands prefer hijabi or modest non-hijabi models?

Depends on the brief. Modest fashion brands often want both, side by side, in the same campaign. Beauty briefs that lean into the hijab-framing-the-face composition tend to prefer hijabi. Lifestyle and commercial briefs tend to want a mix. There's work for both.

Whatever agency you apply to, send the right photos, the right stats and the right hijab-style range. The UK modest modelling industry has more genuine opportunity for new faces in 2026 than it has ever had. Get into the right roster, hold your practice firmly, and the career follows.