manager in the MENA region.
His prior experience includes technology and telecom investment banking and management consulting with UBS, Credit Suisse and PWC in the United States.
Founder of the Luxury Closet, Kunal Kapoor is a serial entrepreneur with a background in luxury and fashion. He built a successful sportswear brand in India and then received an MBA from INSEAD, France. Kunal subsequently landed in the lap of luxury itself Dubai, working for the French fashion empire Louis Vuitton.
In 2011, Kunal founded The Luxury Closet, the largest marketplace for luxury items in the Middle East. Most items are pre-owned and sold at a discounted price, maintaining brand and item integrity, and the assurance of authenticity. This successful and unique venture sees luxury products from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Rolex, Cartier, Louboutin and 100 other top brands sold for up to 70% off the original price. Kunal strongly believes that the ability to buy luxury items should be available to everybody. His love of entrepreneurship and fashion has been the heart behind The Luxury Closet.
The Luxury Closet has raised over $3 million from top tier venture capital funds that include Middle East Venture partners, Dubai Silicon Oasis Capital, Two Four 54 and Mena Venture Investments.
Mary Katrantzou was dubbed "The Queen of Print" by press, a moniker that recognized the enormous influence of her work in the medium. Katrantzou's work changed the face of twentyfirst century fashion, inspiring high fashion and high street designers alike.
CEO and founder of The Modist, Algerian born Ghizlan Guenez has lived most of her life in Dubai and the Middle East. With over 10 years experience in private equity at The Abraaj Group, Ghizlan cultivated an expertise in emerging markets. She was responsible for brand development sustainability programme creation and execution (over $100m deployed) and partnership-building in more than 30 countries. Her work in entrepreneurship, art and sustainability has led to the longstanding partnerships with The World Economic Forum, Art Dubai and the Venice Biennale to name a few. Ghizlan holds a BSc. from the London School of Economics.
Simon P Lock is CEO and Founder of ORDRE. Established in 2015, ORDRE is a technology company powering the business of fashion that owns ORDRE.com; the definitive business-to-business online wholesale marketplace for luxury designers. Over 100 women’s, men’s and accessories designers present online showrooms seasonally using innovative technologies to an invitation only network of 5,500 buyers representing 2,600 department stores, multi label boutiques and online retailers in 93 countries. ORDRE’s technologies allow buyers to comprehensively review collections and place wholesale orders online when they can’t always physically touch and feel collections. These technologies are also used to enhance designer’s physical showrooms and more efficiently facilitate order taking.
To date, ORDRE has established 360°view data capture, digital showrooms, virtual reality and drone technologies to power the business of fashion both in B2B and B2C applications. The company has offices in New York, London, Milan, Paris and Hong Kong and its global team includes industry leaders in technology and fashion.
Simon is the founder of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia and has been Creative Director of Singapore Fashion Week. He is a former Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion & Models, an inaugural member of BoF’s Global 500, a recipient of the Australian Fashion Laureate in 2011 and best-selling author of ‘In The Front Row’. He is also in demand as a keynote speaker at fashion and technology conferences globally.
One of India’s most informed and influential commentators on Indian fashion Sujata Assomull was the launch editor of Harper’s Bazaar India. Having worked at ELLE India, Indian Express and Verve, she also has been the communications director of Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Jimmy Choo in India. Having worked on both sides of the fashion divide, she moved to Dubai two years ago as the consulting Fashion Editor of the region’s first English daily, Khaleej Times. She is also a contributing editor to Vogue India.