Fabulous fashion at your fingertips

www.dia-boutique.com London - Arabstoday Dia Boutique is the latest fashion frenzy that we just cannot seem to get enough of. The website which brings unique and independent fashion designers from the far corners of the globe together has already broken records by being the first e-commerce fashion website in the Middle East.  Rasha Khouri is the mastermind and visionary behind Dia Boutique and her exceptional innovation and passion for sharing luxury, international fashion with the world is securing www.dia-boutique.com as a brand to be rivalled. But who is the woman who is making this all possible for fashionistas everywhere? We find out.                                                                         CEO of Dia Group,  Rasha Khouri Born in London, of Palestinian Lebanese origins, Rasha spent her childhood growing up in influential countries around world. As a young girl she lived in Saudi Arabia, before moving to New York. It was here that she went to the prestigious Chaplin School alongside Stockard Channing, Signourney Weaver and Ivanka Trump. Whilst at high school Rasha interned at the infamous Wildenstein Art Gallery, home to the largest collection of old master and impressionist art. Fluent in English, French and Arabic; Rasha made the most of her elite university lifestyle. For her third year of university at Brown, Rasha lived in St Germain, Paris and studied at Sciences Politiques (the French Political Science University in Paris). It was here that she undertook a fabulous year long course on the business of luxury goods. During the summer of this influential year, Rasha worked as an intern for luxury perfume maker Jean Patou in Paris. It was this summer that taught Rasha the day-to-day elements of running a luxury business. After making the most of her education and opportunities in two of the fashion capitals of the world, Rasha moved to London. In September 1999 she decided she wanted to be a luxury goods equity research analyst. After starting her career at Merrill Lynch, Rasha moved to UBS investment banking. It was here, at the aged of 26, that she became lead analyst and on the luxury goods sector. Working at UBS for 2 years she witnessed the market collapse in front of her eyes in September 2001, Rasha took time to travel the world and experience other cultures. Rasha spent an intensive year completing her MBA at INSEAD in France. During her time there she had time to reflect and decide on the next phase of her life. It was at this dinner in the forest of Fontainebleau that a friend recommended she launched a luxury goods home shopping channel in the Middle East – this moment changed everything for Rasha, and motivated her to start her own luxurious business venture. After completing her business course, Rasha took a risk to reach her dream and moved to a troubled Beirut. A very difficult year lay ahead and she found herself surrounded by bombings and taking part in demonstrations – far from the luxurious world she had hopes of creating. Through various paths and decisions, Rasha started her journey into the luxurious world of Dia. Dia originally started as an online magazine promoting everything fashion and lifestyle in the Middle East. The passion behind it was to highlight the amazing design talent coming out of the Middle East region.