Forbes Middle East has unveiled its second annual “Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands” list for 2020, as well as released a new list entitled, “Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands”.
“Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands” list featured 40 of the most successful female entrepreneurs that have founded and scaled some of the most loved fashion and beauty brands in the Middle East, and have managed to sustain their successful brands despite the negative repercussions of coronavirus pandemic.
Women of Lebanese origin top the lists with 14 entries, followed by Egyptian origin with 10, Saudi origin with 10 entries, and Jordanian origin with five.
The fashion sector represented about 42% of the “Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands” list with 17 entries, which was topped by designer Reem Acra, who found fame by dressing Hollywood celebrities such as Halle Berry and Beyoncé.
Meanwhile, the jewelry sector came in second with nine entries, led by Azza Fahmy and her daughters Amina and Fatma Ghali with their eponymous brand, “Azza Fahmy Jewellery”, whose designs have also been seen on some big names during awards seasons, such as Julia Roberts, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington, Vanessa Williams, and Shailene Woodley.
The list also featured Egyptian designer Jude Benhalim, whose designs were seen on supermodel Kendall Jenner last March. It also included Aya and Mounaz Abdelraouf, Yasmine Yeya, Abeer Al Otaiba, Marmar Halim, Farida Temraz, and Mona Wahib Erian.
See below for the full list of the top 10 women behind Middle Eastern brands list.
Huda Kattan
Nationality: Iraqi-American
Brand: Huda Beauty
Reem Acra
Nationality: Lebanese-American Brand: Reem Acra
Azza Fahmy, Amina & Fatma Ghali
Nationality: Egyptian Brand: Azza Fahmy Jewellery
Dima Rashid
Nationality: Palestinian Brand: Dima Jewellery
Nada Ghazal
Nationality: Lebanese Brand: Nada Ghazal Fine Jewelry
Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch
Nationality: Moroccan Brand: Yan&One
Gemy Maalouf
Nationality: Lebanese Brand: Gemy Maalouf
Razan Alazzouni
Nationality: Saudi Brand: Razan Alazzouni
Andrea Wazen
Nationality: Lebanese Brand: Andrea Wazen
Jude Benhalim
Nationality: Egyptian Brand: Jude Benhali
The magazine has also released a new list for the first time entitled, “Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands”, which featured 10 women who have established technology brands in the Middle East and have succeeded in raising millions of dollars in funding.
It added that among the list are businesswomen of Arab origin, or non-Arabs who have created brands that are based in the Middle East.
The list also featured two Egyptians, Abeer Elsisi the co-founder of Elves, a chat-based digital concierge service, with her husband Karim El Sahy, and Ghada Eltanawy, the co-founder of online dress rental service La Reina.
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