When did you decide to set up Brides do Good and what was the motivation?

I grew up in a melting pot of cultures: A Lebanese father, an Ethiopian/ Italian mother and a childhood in Kuwait. I started my career in humanitarianism, with UNESCO, and then ventured into retail, first at Polo Ralph Lauren and now with Value Retail.  My background, the travels I did especially in Africa and every step of my career defined who I am: passionate about diversity, committed to helping others and a love for entrepreneurship. As a concept, Brides do Good was born, one evening, eight years ago, over dinner listening to a friend who did not know what to do with her wedding dress she that she bought for £8000. This is when inspiration struck.

How many dresses are gathering dust in attics and how women out there have dreamt of a designer wedding dress they could not afford? It was a no brainer!

Humanitarian project or business?

Although I have been in retail for over 17 years, I have longed to combine my commercial skills with my passion for humanitarianism. That's why I launched Brides do Good: a commercial sustainable solution to one of the most prominent global problems, child marriage. 

Which charities do you partner with?

We currently work with Too Young to Wed and Plan International. Both work relentlessly to educate young girls so that they can make their own choices in life and progress safely from childhood to womanhood.

How does it work? 

Brides do Good is an ecommerce platform with a simple proposition: we sell pre-loved and sample designer dresses online and we donate up to two-thirds of the sale to our charity partners.           

We also offer a business solution to retailers and bridal designers with excess inventory, as they are able to either donate or sell samples and previous collections through Brides do Good, while doing good and underpinning their CSR programmes.

Do you buy and sell dresses from outside the UK? 

The women who buy, sell or donate their dresses through Brides do Good are forward thinking, from all walks of life, living in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Kuwait, etc. - they all have something in common: they have joined a movement to make a difference to over 15,000,000 girls forced into early marriage each year. 

What's the most satisfying achievement of Brides do Good to-date?

The biggest achievement since we launched in October 2016 (on the International Day of the Girl) is the money we raised through our first ever pop-up boutique, at Bicester Village. In just ten days we raised over £18,500 for our charities. This response alone has reinforced that our social enterprise, Brides do Good, is the pioneer in the industry, through changing the way women purchase the most important dress of their life, we will make a real difference to vulnerable young girls.

www.bridesdogood.com [1]