Paris Hilton has done it. Sean “Diddy” Combs has done it. Even Victoria Beckham has managed to do it.

Although there is nothing new in high-profile individuals launching clothing lines, the latest celebrity-backed label is raising more than a few eyebrows among the fashionistas of Paris, New York, and Milan.

The celebrities in question are the wives of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) — the hugely controversial Mormon splinter group that recently became the focus of America’s largest child custody dispute.

It was during the case — in which the Texan authorities temporarily removed 400 children from the Church’s compound amid allegations of under-age marriage and institutionalised sexual abuse — that the women’s outfits caught the world’s attention. The polygamy look is essentially unchanged from the days of the American pioneers: austere dresses with long sleeves and high collars, loose trousers, long-johns, and modest blouses.

As for the hairstyles — the typically elaborate coif was termed an “updo” by fashion bloggers as images of the sect’s women attending court hearings filled the television screens.

Interest in the sect’s attire grew when it emerged that most of it was home-made. Indeed, the mothers of the 400 children removed from the ranch spent much of their time making clothes for their sons and daughters while they were in foster homes.

In a country where soaring petrol prices and food inflation have left millions wishing for a simpler life, the gesture hit a nerve. In spite of the concern over young women being pressured into marriage with older men, it helped to create sympathy for the sect and a palpable sense of nostalgia for an America that has long disappeared.

Now that the case is over and the children returned — the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the authorities did not have enough evidence — the sect has seen an opening for a lucrative business opportunity: a church-branded clothing line.

“We don’t know what to expect on demand but we have a flood of interest,” Maggie Jessop, a sect member, told The Salt Lake Tribune.

The clothing is available through the church’s website, fldsdress.com, which promises that its lines for children and teenagers “meet the FLDS standards for modesty and neatness” and asserts that “each piece is made with joy and care”.

The Church says that it is hoping to add recipes and songs to the website soon.

Although no arrests have resulted from April’s raid on the FLDS compound near Eldorado, an investigation is still continuing.

The Texan authorities claim that girls are groomed to accept sex with their middle-aged “spiritual husbands” from the onset of puberty and that boys are indoctrinated to perpetuate the cycle of abuse.

The Church’s prophet, Warren Jeffs, remains in prison in Arizona and faces four charges of sexual conduct with a minor. It is alleged that his wives were as young as 12 years old.

Since the raid, the FLDS has said that it will observe legal age restrictions in all future marriages.

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