About
Dr Neri Karra
Founder of Moda Métiers
Neri created Moda Métiers with the vision of bringing together her unique skill set of academic research and hands-on experience, to support others on their journeys to grow and strengthen their fashion and luxury businesses.
A fashion entrepreneur herself, Neri has over 20 years of experience in the industry, having built her own multi-million dollar luxury leather goods business, which as well as producing for her own label, is also a major manufacturer of several leading Italian luxury brands.
Neri is a professor of Practice in Strategy and an Entrepreneur expert at the University of Oxford, consulting for both emerging and established luxury brands, including the British Fashion Council and its designers. She has guest lectured for companies such as Apple and Credit Suisse, as well as for prominent institutions including; the London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art, and Imperial College London.
Academically, Neri holds a Ph.D. in Management Science from Cambridge University and is a published author of numerous research papers and books, her latest being ‘Fashion Entrepreneurship: The Creation of the Global Fashion Business (Routledge, 2021). Well respected within the industry, Neri is frequently quoted in publications including; the Financial Times, Forbes, and Business of Fashion, for her insights and perspectives.
White Butterflies
Aged 11, Neri remembered her grandfather’s words as she arrived in Turkey: “If you see a white butterfly, it’s good luck. It means your whole summer will be beautiful.” With just two suitcases to their name, Neri and her parents had become Bulgarian refugees. Few opportunities were available to them, but they worked hard to build a new life and began selling textiles and leather goods in the markets of Istanbul. With the motivation to support her family, young Neri built relationships with tanneries and would ask for offcuts of their leather, these leather scraps would then be transformed into bags and accessories to be sold in the market. It was this tenacious spirit and brilliant mind that awarded Neri a place at the University of Miami, and on completion of her degree, brought her back home to launch her own high-end fashion brand with her family.
Since then Neri’s education and career have flourished and her world, further
expanded. The journey has been hard, but now and again, Neri sees white butterflies.
The Butterfly Effect – the idea that a small action can have a big impact, is what drives Neri’s desire to give back and help others. Read about how Moda Métiers support child refugees and offer their services to businesses of displaced people, here.
“If you see a white butterfly, it’s good luck. It means your whole summer will be beautiful.”
PhD in Management Sciences, Entrepreneurship and Innovation:
Bachelors and Masters in Business Administration:
