The Story of Noor ul Noura

There is a phrase I keep returning to: light upon light. It is where the name of this label begins, and it is the closest I can come to describing what I set out to make. My name is Momina. I am the founder and designer of Noor ul Noura, and every piece we release is drawn, considered and overseen by me — from the first sketch to the final stitch.

I want to tell you how it started, because I think the reason a thing is made matters as much as the thing itself.

Why I started Noor ul Noura

For years I looked for modest wear I actually wanted to wear, and rarely found it. There was plenty available — but so much of it was plain, hurried, and made without real care. An abaya would look beautiful in a photograph and feel like nothing in your hands. The details were an afterthought. The story was missing.

I wanted the opposite. I wanted a luxury abaya that felt considered the moment you touched it — where the weight of the cloth, the fall of a sleeve and the finish of an edge had all been thought about. Something rooted in culture, but made for the way women dress now. Timeless, and modern, at once.

So I stopped waiting for it to exist and began designing it myself.

The meaning behind the name

Noor ul Noura carries the name of Noura — our light. She is the reason for the name, and the reason behind the feeling I chase in everything I design: warmth, brightness, a sense of being wrapped in something gentle.

Light upon light became more than a phrase. It became the whole aesthetic. You will see it in the pieces — pale, luminous cloth; gold that catches the light; the way an embellished sleeve glows when it moves. Even our deepest, richest pieces are built around light: gold zari on velvet, pearl on ivory, colour that lifts rather than weighs you down.

How every piece is made

I design everything at Noor ul Noura myself. Nothing is bought in, and nothing is generic. Each collection begins with an idea — a Mughal garden, a Gulf silhouette, a particular quality of light — and I work it through to a finished piece that I would be proud to wear.

Design and making are brought together under one roof and overseen entirely by me, through direct, ethical relationships with the people who produce our work. That closeness is deliberate. It means I can choose the best quality materials available for each piece, and hold every stage to the same standard. Our design work is based in the UK, and the care that goes into it is something I never want to compromise.

The culture behind the cloth

Noor ul Noura is South Asian inspired, and that heritage runs through everything. I draw from Mughal gardens and old-world embroidery, from the grandeur of the subcontinent and the elegance of Gulf abaya silhouettes. Florals rendered like miniatures, borders worked like a garden in bloom, gold that feels like heirloom rather than trend.

But heritage, to me, is not about looking backward. It is a starting point. I take these threads and shape them into something a woman can wear to a gathering today, over jeans tomorrow, and keep for years after that.

Who it is for

Noor ul Noura is for the woman who wants to dress modestly and beautifully — who refuses to believe those two things are in tension. She values quality. She notices detail. She wants her clothes to carry a story, and to feel like hers.

That is who I design for. That is who I was when I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Where we are going

We are only at the beginning. What began as a single velvet abaya has become a growing family of collections, each with its own world and its own light. My ambition is for Noor ul Noura to be worn far beyond where it started — a modest wear label with a global reach and a soul that never gets lost as it grows.

If you have found us early, thank you. You are part of the story now.

Light upon light.

— Momina, Founder & Designer, Noor ul Noura