We might be forgiven for dismissing lifestyle startups such as music, travel, food or fashion at first glance as less feel-good than those tackling more serious issues such as health, the environment or education.
However, if we take the time to look beyond the glamour or entertainment value, one would find a slew of creative new businesses that are using the mass appeal of these areas to drive real social good.
As part of Telefonica’s Trailblazers, the series that discovers millennials whose ventures have social impact, we found one such startup channeling fashion to create meaningful value.
Meet Romanna Bint-Abubaker, the stylish yet soft-spoken and shy founder of ecommerce platform, Haute Elan. Romanna wants Haute Elan to be seen as a curator of luxury modest fashion and, more ambitiously, as a catalyst for much-needed inter-faith dialogue, all using fashion as the common language.
The stunningly-designed portal is aimed largely at women of Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith, however is just as open to those of non-faith who simply wish to dress conservatively.
Romanna wants to use the platform to unite these women, bringing designers, bloggers and influencers from all regions together via online dialogue and hopefully, breaking down some national and faith barriers in the process. Hear more in the video below:
I’m very impressed by Haute Elan’s Women’s Venture Fund, which invests one pound from every purchase towards interest-free loans for female-led startups. A worthy way to empower women.
Another of Haute Elan’s aims is for it to be the platform of reference for all modest fashion from around the world, particularly from emerging, international luxury designers.
The importance of such impactful entrepreneurship is to be explored in Telefónica’s upcoming Index on Digital Life. In the global index measuring the quality of digital life globally, we expect to find that economies which encourage balanced and sustained investment in creative start-ups will secure more prosperous digital lives for their citizens. Private venture capital investment, promoted by socially conscious businesses like Haute Elan, can only strengthen the impact of digital.
Given many of us non-fashionistas might not expect high-end fashion to have a feel-good, social value, I’m deeply intrigued to learn how Haute Elan will use the glam value of this industry to create a movement. What specific, lasting social impact are they looking to create and how? What does it actually take to set up an ecommerce store? And how does Romanna want to evolve the platform?
Ultimately, Romanna also wants to “transform the landscape for SMEs, targeting the $2tn Muslim market through one platform that aggregates the highest traffic of women from the Islamic World, and to empower women in the business of fashion to reach the largest international market.”
An inspiring ambition and one to watch.
Shivvy Jervis is producer of The Trailblazers and Digital Futures – follow her on Twitter @shivvyjervis
