GOD CALLED ME TO START A MODEST FASHION BRAND!

Leah Levin-Martins shares how God stopped her in her quest to become a topless model and gave her the blueprint to start a business creating modest clothing and be a light in the darkness, to be the female role model I was looking for.

Back when I was 17, the word modesty was definitely NOT in my vocabulary! Especially as I had just begun pursuing a career as a topless model. However, it was a word God gave to me in a dream just before I was saved that many years later would become a calling and a business blueprint.

Growing up, I found myself looking for strong female role models – and I found them in movies, half-dressed and extremely sexual in how they behaved. Being young and impressionable I copied them, subconsciously accepting the lie that sexy women were the most valuable. So much so that I eventually decided to try topless modelling! This pursuit was short-lived, as Jesus intervened in a dream asking me to follow Him and then gave me a piece of paper with the word ‘modesty’ written on it. I acquiesced to His request.

It was the summer of 2020 when my clothes changed again. I was wearing a modest ‘ish’ summer dress I had worn before, yet this particular summer, I put it on and felt naked. It seemed the Holy Spirit had now convicted me to also cover up my cleavage. One could say it was the final download of the ‘modest mandate’ on my life, but also the beginning of a business blueprint.

In obedience I began to wear camisoles under my low-cut clothing but that quickly became quite frustrating, so my mum introduced me to some little cleavage covers – also called modesty panels – but I felt unsatisfied with the ones currently available. I then felt prompted to make some for myself and try to sell them. With the success of this, and seeing that there were other women who also wanted to cover their cleavage, the seeds of building a modest fashion brand were planted in my heart. I then felt God encourage me to make some modest swimwear, especially now the bikini was off limits to me! I am proud to say that I launched my first-ever limited modest swimwear collection this year. But this is only the beginning!

God has shown me that modesty is about more than just clothing, although that is part of it. It’s fundamentally about the attitude of the heart – an attitude that chooses to decrease so God can increase; an attitude that says I will draw attention to God and not myself, in how I dress and how I behave. And that, ladies, is what my brand is all about.

Slowly but surely, Jesus began to change my heart and my wardrobe. I’ll be honest, it was a battle. My whole identity was connected to my skimpy clothing and sexy attitude, and I was terrified of losing the attention I was getting from men and everyone else! After all, it was where I believed all my value came from, but in hindsight I see that God was adding value to me through covering me up, and not taking value away.

You see, immodest clothes are easy to find. But modest clothing, unless you’re a Muslim, is not always at hand. There is often a lot of mixing and matching involved – whether it’s wearing a vest or modesty panel underneath a low-cut high-street dress, or having to keep a cardigan on all day as your favourite dress has the back cut out, but you love the colour and the print. I hear you! And it is for that reason God has called me to build a new brand that puts modesty standards first not last! To create a brand where every item covers the areas most important to us, but still looks good. Unfortunately, the fashion industry will continue to create provocative clothing and overtly sexualised marketing campaigns. Many brands will continue to feed women a lie that being sexy and showing your butt in super tight see-through leggings is empowering. However, God has called me to stand against this