Menna, Founder of Solmé
"I wanted to create a brand that noticed the things other brands missed."
Fifteen years. Hundreds of boardrooms. One very specific frustration.
For more than fifteen years, I built my career across some of the most demanding corporate environments in the Middle East.
I led teams, presented strategies and earned my place in rooms where women often had to work harder, prove more and navigate expectations that simply didn’t seem to exist for many of the people sitting beside them.
I’m also a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend and someone who has always loved fashion. Not because it was an escape or a distraction, but because it has always been an extension of who I am.
For a long time, those two parts of my life didn’t always sit comfortably together.
Getting dressed became complicated.
The more senior I became in my career, the more carefully I found myself thinking about how I showed up.
Not because I lacked confidence. In fact, I had long stopped worrying about what other people thought of me. But I understood the reality of the rooms I was walking into, and I could see the same quiet calculation happening in the women around me.
If you dressed too fashionably, there was always the risk of not being taken seriously. If you played it too safe, you became forgettable. If you looked too feminine, assumptions were made. If you looked too authoritative, you were labelled intimidating.
These weren’t rules anyone ever spoke about, but almost every woman understood them.
Eventually I realised I was no longer willing to accept those compromises as the price of ambition.
So i decided to do something about it.
I started asking myself a simple question.
What would a fashion brand look like if it genuinely understood women like me?
Not a brand built around trends or marketing buzzwords, but one that recognised the realities of modern life. A brand that noticed the contradictions, the nuances and the quiet decisions women make every single day without anyone else ever seeing them.
I wanted to create clothing that could move through every part of a woman’s life, from the boardroom to dinner, from travelling for work to spending time with family. Pieces that felt powerful without feeling masculine, feminine without feeling delicate, and versatile enough to be worn in more than one version of your life.
I wanted to create a brand that noticed the things other brands missed.
That’s how Solmé began.
Solmé was born from the belief that women should never have to choose between expressing who they are and being taken seriously.
Every collection begins with real experiences, not trends. Every detail is considered with purpose. Every piece is designed to earn its place in your wardrobe and move with you through the many roles you hold, the ambitions you pursue and the life you’re building.
Because I don’t believe clothing should change who you are.
I believe it should help you feel more like yourself.
Menna, Founder of Solmé
"I want my designs to create a sense of confidence, composure and quiet strength in the women who wear them. And I feel truly lucky to be on this journey, because I, too, am one of you."