There’s a new app designed just for fashion lovers. Bahrain native Yara AlDhaen launched Sept in early March, an app that automatically personalizes each individual’s shopping experience.
“Sept was born out of the annoyance of me finding a dress for next week’s wedding,” says AlDhaen. “We’re all so different and unique, but we buy from the same places. In the age of Netflix and Spotify, fashion has to be more personal.”
This personalization of the shopping experience is what makes Sept innovative and unique. “We have a super-customized algorithm that runs our app,” says AlDhaen. “We get to know the consumer and what they like. What we have is a very unique mechanism in fashion, similar to TikTok.”
Yara AlDhaen explains how to you use shopping app Sept. Video shot by Rui The Digital Warehouse
Much like they would on a dating app like Tinder, Sept users can swipe right if they love a product (“ME”) or left if they don’t (“NOT ME”). The loved items go directly into the user’s personal feed. This feed is personalized around each customer so product selection gets better and better after each use.
At the moment, Sept has teamed up with the likes of MatchesFashion, Net-A-Porter, Farfetch, Ssense, Moda Operandi and Browns Fashion to satisfy shoppers in the GCC, the rest of the MENA region and even beyond. “Sept is a brand before it’s a platform,” says AlDhaen. “We’ve been building Sept as a community, a grassroots movement.” And while Sept is now for women only, AlDhaen wants to expand the app to cater to the male shopper as well.
“The way I see it, fashion has always been an excluding industry,” says AlDhaen. “But in 2021, due to the younger generation, you’re being embraced for who you are. We celebrate the girl for who she is, and we want to celebrate you for being who you are.”
