Official media partner
 

There are many people who call themselves serial entrepreneurs, but few who actually do it—and reach 2,000 million people in the process.

Özlem Şahin Ertaş, the CEO and driving force behind Modest Fashion Week, which has so far had seven editions under its belt since its inception in 2014, certainly fits the bill. She recognized that modest fashion is, and will continue to be, a major segment of the industry, and set out to promote its creators, beginning with events in İstanbul, where her company, Think Fashion, is based, before spreading to London, Dubai, Jakarta, and Amsterdam. The next, as previewed in Lucire last week, is in Riyadh, with the Modest Fashion Show running from Thursday, December 15 through to Saturday the 17th.

Even before our paths crossed with Ertaş, we knew of her event—the London one made a splash among occidental media—so to come on board as a media partner (after ourselves doing similar roles in New Zealand, København, and San Francisco) was a privilege.

As a CEO, Ertaş is accessible, and clearly enthusiastic about modest fashion, noting to Lucire that the Riyadh edition had been in planning for some time and she promises an exciting event with over two dozen designers in the Saudi capital from Thursday.

She noted carefully that modest fashion is no fad, and that a great deal of it comes from personal values and the culture of many people.

Having started in the marketing and publishing worlds herself, Ertaş is no stranger to the demands of media and how to get word of her event out there, though her bachelor’s degree in her native Turkey was in industrial engineering, with a master’s from the European School of Economics in Italy in leadership. But fashion has always been there, with a two-year stint at the İstanbul Moda Akademisi, not to mention working in textiles for almost two years.

While working in marketing at Modanisa, Ertaş pioneered the first online show for hijab fashion, before founding companies in fashion e-commerce and businesses in modest fashion.

Some of these businesses fall under her Think Fashion banner, including Turkish Made Co. for production and sourcing, and E Tu Creative Agency for branding and marketing communications.

In addition to coverage in our title, she has been featured in Vogue Italia, Vogue Arabia, Khaleej Times, The National, Middle East Eye and others.

Find out more, including registrations for the Riyadh Modest Fashion Show, at modestfashionweeks.co. •

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