Viaka Newsletter: Showcasing luxury fashion rental platform Designer-24!
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Hi all! This week, we’re highlighting Designer-24, a Dubai-based fashion technology rental platform. We spoke with Roupen, the founder and CEO of the company that rents dresses and luxury accessories.
Designer-24 Feature
What is Designer-24 and how/why did it come to life?
Designer wear reaches only a privileged minority and finding stunning, reasonably-priced clothing rarely happens without breaking the bank.
Our initial two goals were to provide women with access to reasonably priced designer clothing and to offer them the ability to monetize their wardrobes while also protecting the environment.
Designer-24, founded in Dubai, is MENA's first fashion technology rental platform that introduces global luxury brands to the sharing economy.
We rent out thousands of designer dresses and luxury fashion items for a fraction of retail prices, through a unique omnichannel experiential community platform, all while paving the way for sustainable fashion.
We went beyond the traditional retail space to meet the region’s high demand for dresses while leveraging the rich regional luxury supply, allowing women to easily explore the fashion industry, rent, and lend out their own pieces. The solution basically unlocks affordable access for the renter and a monetization opportunity of what we turned into lucrative assets (dresses, bags, accessories) for the lender.
What is your personal story and relation to the problem (alongside your founders)
From taboo to trend. Over the years, we have noticed changes in consumer behavioral patterns. Consumers have more and more embraced the second-hand and sharing economy models and renting increasingly became a trendy way to consume. We played an integral role in driving this change in the Arab world. In this Instagram era, with users routinely posting pictures of their numerous outfits, renting has developed into an economical solution to showcase a fresh masterpiece every time and remain on-trend.
The rising awareness around sustainability, coupled with the post-pandemic world, has been instrumental in promoting renting as a smart way to consume. Big fashion companies are utilizing new tools and solutions to meet sustainability goals by being more circular in their approach and making garments last longer. It is now essential for companies to innovate due to heightened expectations in the fashion industry.
In general, there is a clear trend toward consumers, across different demographics, being more concerned and gradually more and more selective about making sustainable choices. They care about the brands they are wearing and the story behind these brands, what they stand for, and what impact they have. Therefore, delivering the option of rental across different categories of products, and to a wider audience will have an exponential effect. That being said, you’ll be the first to learn outside of our start-up that we are not stopping at women; we are only a few weeks away from launching D24 Men, and that will be a game changer on all fronts. If we can rent a designer dress more than 90 times through robust quality control processes, there is so much we can do with a Tuxedo and suit!
In an industry where ownership was paramount, we were able to disrupt and change the way women dress and create a true collaborative marketplace that prioritizes access over all else. We source most of our inventory from individual women in a consignment-based model, which in turn creates a relevant curation in every market, and a monetization opportunity not just for designers but for everyone. In fact, Designer-24 was the first platform to create this 2-sided collaborative marketplace model in a rental offering for designer dresses, globally, and this has in turn created a major social impact element whereby we’ve paid out millions of dollars to our lenders.
With technology at its core and its plug-and-play model, Designer-24 has become a movement of change. Being the Middle East’s first online designer dress rental platform, the solution will continue to revolutionize the understanding of fashion and consuming luxury until rental becomes the first choice for most.
What market are you attacking? Are you adding on or trying to replace current offerings?
We currently operate in UAE, Lebanon, and Jordan with plans to expand throughout the region. We're working on some exciting new offerings like allowing brides to customize their wedding gowns and renting them out on our platform or providing travel boxes so UAE residents can enjoy designer wear even when they go on vacation - just two of many ideas we want to share!
What are you looking for from the Viaka community?
Without a doubt, it looks like the days of traditional ownership-based fashion are numbered. We strongly believe that the Viaka community can be a driver of change by advocating sustainable and circular economies, including fashion, an industry that ranks high in carbon emission.
Where will that take you?
With this shift in consumer behavior, we can further reduce negative environmental impacts such as water and energy usage, and CO2 emission - like what we describe here: https://blog.designer-24.com/the-effect-of-fashion
Promising Opportunities from Our Partners
New opportunities added in March 2023
To advise:
eComz is looking for experts in lead generation & sales expansion into new MENA markets, particularly KSA.
Designer-24 is looking for expert advice to help them build a strategy and template to effectively franchise their model in smaller MENA markets.
To invest in:
Anecdote is raising a seed round to continue building out their AI platform that Instantly brings qualitative customer insights to product and CX teams.
To receive investment from:
533 Syndicate is looking for promising founders across stages and industries. Ticket sizes as low as $20K and as high as $100K.
Click on the button below to see all current opportunities & get involved:
Exciting Announcements From Our Network
Below is a list of updates, wins, and asks emanating from members of the Viaka Network in the “West.”
Fireside chat about Lebanon’s Startup Ecosystem and take place on March 25th. RSVP here.
Sign the Founder Mental Health Pledge! Stemming from the SVB crisis, the Pledge aims to increase focus on the mental health of hardworking founders. Click here for more info.
In-Person meet-ups in Boston & NYC are taking place this week. To learn more “Join the Network” below.
The Viaka Network has launched its exclusive Slack Workspace. To join, apply to become a member by clicking “Join the Network” below.
Type One Ventures are hiring a finance associate! Network member Tarek Waked has posted an opening to join his team at Type One Ventures in LA. Check out this great opportunity here.
If you’re a member of our Network and would like to share your own update next week, email info.viaka@gmail.com or submit an update via this form.
Read of the Week
Viaka has launched a Network Reading List, where Network members are encouraged to submit media suggestions of their own.
Our suggested read this week is this piece from Stratechery, about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Read more here!
Weekly News Digest
Check out our weekly digest — we provide news from all across the MENA startup ecosystem, every single Friday. Be sure to follow our LinkedIn and Twitter for more.
That’s it for this week. Thank you!
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