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By Asha Toulmin
ana El Sakhaway has been interested in fashion for as long as she can remember. Not so shocking, right? A 21-year-old woman enraptured by the latest Manolo Blahniks is about as rare as a raunchy euphemism on Sex and the City. Especially in Qatar, where a fashionista can visit the austere designer stores of the Pearl or earn enough cash to preorder the latest Balenciaga tote. But Rana isn’t completely sold on the Western runways she’s been poring over since discovering her grandmother’s old Vogue collection at age ten. Her new website, www.urbansouq.com, contextualises the latest looks from abroad into something closer to home. Woman Today sat down with El Sakhaway to discuss her new venture.
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August 2010
So how is UrbanSouq different from the multitude of other fashion sources out there for women? It takes what’s in, what’s trendy, what’s fashionable and interprets it in its own way to match the culture that’s here. It shows women how to wear a specific trend. I’ll take a style and show women how to wear it if they are veiled or if they wear an abhay. It aims to act as the reader’s personal stylist and in-the-know friend. It’s an informational resource that inspires readers and helps them get fashion and lifestyle tips to allow them to develop their personal style.
How do you think women can focus on individual style when a lot of times you see the same models and the same looks in magazines and the media? What inspires me the most about fashion is how fun,
different and creative it can be. Forget how models wear it on the runway – these looks represent the designer and the brand. Look at street style and how real women take the items and customize it to make it their own. We are consistently providing styling tips and inspiration to encourage readers to find their own individual style.
But why is personal style important? I think fashion is important because it’s a method of self-expression and it has a huge effect on our confidence and the way we portray ourselves. Everything one puts on makes a fashion statement and says something about them whether intended or not; it projects a certain image others see in you. First impressions do matter whether you are in a job interview or if you’re simply trying to make a good first impression, and with fashion you can express yourself and ace that first impression.
Forget how models wear it on the runway... Look at street style and how real women take the items and customize it to make it their own.
What about as a female business owner? Has that been an obstacle in gaining respect? So far it hasn’t presented any challenges for me because UrbanSouq is female oriented. In fact, it’s definitely an advantage because you want to relate to your readers and have them trust you in return. Being a woman of a similar profile as my target audience has allowed me to provide real value to my readers because I created something that I myself was looking for.
At such a young age, what sort of first impression do you make on people when they discover you own your own business? A week after I launched I was invited to Dubai fashion week and I got to meet a lot of PR agencies, designers, media etc. At times when they met me people were curious about how old I was. I started lying about it actually because they would start zoning out once I told them my age. At the same time I got a lot of support from people because of how young I was saying, “wow this is a great initiative, you’re only 21.” But when I was still planning it, when nobody could see the actual website, the majority of people said, “you need experience”. A lot of employers looked down on me, which was annoying. Instead of thinking that I’m a creative innovative person, who wanted to do something different, they’d look down on me and say “oh you’re too young, you’re an overachiever, you’re too optimistic”.
What were you looking for by starting the website?
Everything one puts on makes a fashion statement and says something about them whether intended or not. What has been the best advice you’ve received that has helped support your business?
The concept was new to the Middle East then. I had studied business and concentrated on graphic media management, but there wasn’t a specific industry in Doha I wanted to work in. There isn’t an established publishing or marketing industry here yet, it’s growing very fast, but not one in terms of fashion. I wanted to create a job for myself and I wanted to do something that I’m passionate about.
The best advice was to “just get started and do it”. When I was first starting there were a lot of obstacles and excuses to not do it, I seemed to always be waiting on something to happen to get my website started. Then I just decided that I needed to start small, just get it out there and start growing slowly. This has been my motto ever since just put it out there for your market and take your audiences responses and comments and to further develop it.
What about your family? Were they understanding of your passion?
And where do you see the site developing in the future?
I have never imagined that my family could be as supportive as they have been. They exceed expectations. They are doing a great job at keeping me focused, helping me with my decision-making to grow my business and are constantly encouraging me. I’m thankful to them every day.
I see it becoming a full fashion and lifestyle publishing network made out of different fashion, lifestyle and entertainment sites, covering topics that include fashion & style, health & beauty, entertainment, food, fitness and more. All content published would focus on women living in the MENA region 2010 August
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