Six years after launching her platform in the United Kingdom, “Save Your Wardrobe” which gives clothes a second life in a circular journey, Tunisian Hasna Kourda received the prestigious LVMH prize for innovation. She wants to make it the starting point of Tunisia's influence in the world of fashion. Literally his project is to “Save your wardrobe”. The idea is original and charming at the same time. Indeed, with the latest tools of new technologies, Hasna Kourda, CEO, proposes to build his virtual wardrobe, and to associate all the local and regional actors who allow its sustainability. “In a logic of circular mode, we connect specialists in repair and maintenance solutions in our technological platform. We start from in-store advice, from the after-purchase experience, to sorting through the repair workshop, without forgetting logistics and retail… And for this, we have the support of major luxury partner houses, of one of the largest groups in the world”, rejoiced the Tunisian after receiving the “Innovations awards” prize in Paris, from the hands of Bernard Arnaud, CEO of LVMH.
The French group, world number one in luxury which made a turnover of 79.2 billion in 2022, brings together more than 75 brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Guerlain… In addition to the spotlight, this prize allows the startup to integrate “ La maison des startups LVMH” at station F, which offers individualized coaching with support from experts and workshops to become familiar with the challenges of luxury.
If the startup was born 6 years ago, the idea has been in the head of the Tunisian since her arrival in France for her higher studies, in the early 2000s, in the boom of fast fashion. “I was marked by the commercial frenzy of my girlfriends. I saw people buying and throwing away with excessive consumption behavior,” she recalls. An attitude that clashes with the education she received. “I come from Djerba, this beautiful island whose inhabitants are known for a certain frugality with our resources. My grandmother taught us the proper use of things, to know their price and virtues, to repair them in a circular logic”. This education combined with a passion for fashion and a sensitivity to ecology could only give such a result. “My education is also values of respect for the planet's resources, which you have to take for yourself,
In Paris, Hasna Kourda enrolled in preparatory class, then in business school and a bit of Paris Dauphine in the mixed, she explains, with a slight smile. “Very quickly, the idea came. I saw that there were problems to be solved through the adoption of technology by an industry known to sell emotions, ”she recalls.
From the start, the entrepreneur always wanted to develop his business in Tunisia. “That's even my goal. Tunisia is a central port. Manufacturing is a big part of our GDP. I always said to myself that I had to contribute to the economy of my country,” she says. But not everything goes as planned. The revolution that the country experienced, then the Covid transformed its plans. Hosted for a year during the first cohort of Meet Africa (Expertise France), the links with the Tunisian tech ecosystem remain very strong.
Among the forty technicians who make up the bulk of his team, around thirty are based in Tunisia. “The important thing is to train the talents of tomorrow. Today, giants like Amazon, Google, Meta… tear them away from us. We must be able to continue to work with Tunisian technicians, in Tunisia”. Today, the path is clear: “With this LVMH prize, I hope to make Tunisia shine in the world of fashion”.
Source: Africa News Agency