Third Wave Fashion // DECEMBER 2013 // YEAR END WRAP-UP | Page 24
Movers
& Shakers
Shikkha is constantly on the lookout for the next big
thing in fashion and technology, which leans on her
experience as an innovation consultant. Before
founding the FashSet, she had more than five years of
experience in management and business consulting.
Her forte has been in the field of innovation consulting
and she has helped organizations in the region
strategize and ideate on a number of projects. She has
a M.S. in Engineering Management from Northeastern
University and is currently pursuing her Doctor in
Business Administration degree at Herriot Watt
University, Dubai.
Her diverse background and strong passion for
entrepreneurship led her to develop the concept of
TheFashSet. She received numerous requests from
friends and acquaintances on guidance and advice on
starting out as an entrepreneur. Marrying her desire to
help out fellow entrepreneurs and her love for fashion
seemed like her calling. She loves connecting and
collaborating with people and she strongly believes
that change is only constant.
What inspired you to start The FashSet?
It started by chance and transformed into
'eFashSet' - completely driven out of
desire to network. I'm an avid follower of
startups and women in entrepreneurship. I
have been following the Fashion Tech
startup scene in the US for a while and
wanted to network with other professionals
who were Fashion Tech entrepreneurs in
the region, to get a good understanding of
what’s happening in Dubai. One thing led
to another and eFashSet was born. We
started as a regular meetup group - within
2 months the community grew faster than
ever and we had launched our website.
Lately, we’ve been working with a new
client, SHIKKHA GUPTA, who is helping to
bring the fashion and technology scene
to Dubai. It’s been exciting to work with
someone who is so truly on the forefront
of a movement! Here’s her story:
wanting to be part of our events. We've got
brands who are reaching out to us to show
their support to the community. We've got
members within the community who are
collaborating and working together. We're
still learning and growing with the
community to improve the experience for
its members.
What's unique about the fashion and
startup scene in Dubai?
Its very new! Dubai is a place where retail is
BIG! We have a mall within every 1 mile
distance so its interesting to see how
Technology is going to come in and disrupt
this 'convenient' retail setup of sorts. eres
also a dichotomy of people who like the
things the traditional way and the new tech
savvy generation looking