Out of bikini comes burkini

Burkinis are lightweight outfits made of Lycra and nylon that leave only the hands, feet and face showing. They were originally imported from Turkey and Morocco, but now London-based companies Modestly Active and Modestkini, which have been selling the swimsuits since 2007, are cashing in on the boom.

Ismail Sacranie, sales and marketing director at Modestly Active, said: 'The first few years were a hard struggle but, over the past two years sales have grown between 300 and 400 per cent.'

Modestly Active and Modestkini say between 15 and 20 per cent of their clients are non-Muslim.

Before the suits became available, women had to find other ways of covering up. Kausar Sacranie, chief executive of Modestly Active who designed Nigella's burkini, says  that years of family holidays spent wearing clingy leggings and T-shirts in the water prompted her to design an alternative.

She said: 'I wanted something different but I didn't want to look like a Teletubby on the beach.

'I wanted something I was comfortable in and that made me look good. Later, I went on holiday to Dubai and I was swamped with  people asking me where I got it.'

Source: dailymail