Into High Gear

Moda Operandi’s co-founder Lauren Santo Domingo talks women driving in Saudi Arabia, her royal connections and world domination

- Emma Day

Excuse me, I’m a little jetlagged,” she apologises, alongside a warm handshake.

However, despite her gruelling 13-hour flight from the US to Dubai just days earlier, Lauren Santo Domingo looks anything but, clad in an embroidered kimono, sheath dress and barely-there makeup. The co-founder of luxury online retailer Moda Operandi jetted into the UAE last month to launch a collaboration with a group of groundbreaking women, the Arabian Gazelles. “Someone in the office introduced me to the group and I was immediately inspired,” says Santo Domingo of the female-only supercar club based in Dubai and founded by Hanan Mazouzi.

“I was really drawn to the confidence of a woman driving a supercar. That’s obviously a really strong and dynamic woman, and that’s who I naturally gravitate towards as friends.”

Moda, the high-end, e-commerce hub launched by Santo Domingo in 2011, after she cut her teeth at Vogue US, will work with the group over the next year, blending flash rides with high fashion. It’s a move fittingly ahead of the curve for a forward-thinking business that allows customers to pre-order catwalk looks months before they hit stores. “Things come to us all the time, but I was really excited about this,” says Santo Domingo of the partnership, admitting with a smile that her ultimate goal is to host a similar event in Saudi Arabia.