Chalhoub Group’s Greenhouse and Instagram partner to mentor local fashion startups in Saudi Arabia
The Greenhouse, Chalhoub Group’s space for innovation and entrepreneurship, and Instagram have teamed up to mentor and develop high-potential local fashion startups in Saudi Arabia. The initiative came from the Fashion Lab program launched by Chalhoub Greenhouse to promote corporate entrepreneurship and innovation and identify disruptive and innovative Saudi Fashion brands. Instagram will join forces with Chalhoub Group to provide resources and skills to Saudi fashion start-ups to scale up their businesses and accelerate growth over a five-month period.
A first of its kind concept in Saudi Arabia, Fashion Lab builds on Chalhoub Group’s commitment to identify and boost innovative Saudi brands with disruptive ideas and provide them a platform to evolve as business leaders. The program is focused on early-stage ventures and brands, each receiving up to $15,000 in funding for developing retail propositions across streetwear, sustainable fashion, contemporary design, and accessories.
The program is an open innovation platform that integrates Chalhoub Group’s operational expertise with the insights of industry professionals to grow prospective Saudi brands and nurture the Saudi fashion talent. The brands have been given access to Chalhoub Group’s extensive retail network through Muse Concept Store in Riyadh Park including other online and offline channels to sell their products
“Small businesses are the heartbeat of the Instagram community as Instagram remains the destination where people come to discover new talents and brands and purchase products, especially in Fashion and Beauty. During the pandemic, we focused on helping businesses thrive – telling their story and providing them with the tools to sell and flourish on the platform. And today, through Fashion Lab, we are reinforcing this commitment in Saudi Arabia, working with a like-minded, community-oriented Group, such as Chalhoub, to pool our knowledge, experience, and resources to help five promising fashion brands scale up their business, build strong brands in the Kingdom, and scale their reach beyond the region,” stated Anna Germanos, Head of Consumer-Packaged Goods, Retail and E-commerce for MENA, at Meta.
“Saudi Arabia has a fast-evolving fashion ecosystem driven by its young population and its amazing pool of talented designers. The Greenhouse launched the Fashion Lab earlier this year with an ambition of supporting and encouraging this ecosystem of great entrepreneurs and accelerating this truly home-grown entrepreneurial culture dedicated to the fashion industry and at the same time contributing to our own brands and concepts that serve our local customer. We believe that we can create the biggest impact through partnerships and concerted collective efforts. We are excited to join forces with Instagram on this initiative that will have long-term positive impact in promoting innovation and developing young fashion champions from the Kingdom for the world,” said Dina Sidani, Chief Innovation Officer, Chalhoub Group.
