Inspirational Women Profiles: Zeina Abou Chaaban

 

Nisaa FM: - Zeina Abou Chaaban has made it to Arabian Business 2017-list “40 and under: Most Influential Young Arabs in the Middle East”.

Who is Zeina Abou Chaaban? She is the founding partner and managing director of Palestyle, her world-renowned fashion accessories label. Through this she has employed 100 refugee women and thousands more have benefitted from its social projects. This year, Palestyle has released a 2017 comeback collection and brand revamp, taking conscious fashion into the future.

Zeina Abou Chaaban’s Palestinian family moved to Dubai from Germany in 1991. Dubai has since been her home, and she graduated from the American University there. Her career started in supply chain management in Procter & Gamble, where she worked for as a logistics planner for three years. She realized, though, that her heart was not in the corporate world.

Palestyle: Conscious Fachion

The idea for Palestyle was conceived when Chaaban visited Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut in 2009 with 180,000 refugees were crammed into a 1sq km of land. Witnessing the young and educated refugees dealing with poverty due to a lack of job opportunities and inadequate infrastructure inspired Chaaban to launch Palestyle as a social fashion brand.

“I think everyone has a responsibility to giving back to society and how they do it is an individual choice. Before Palestyle I was involved in organizing and running summer camps for refugee children, which gave me the opportunity to work with UNRWA, child psychologists and social workers in the field - it was a rewarding experience to be grateful for.”

Recently Chaaban supported the opening of the Community Children’s Library for Syrian Refugee Children in Al Mafraq Camp in Jordan. 

 

Source: www.arabianbusiness.com