Empowering women to embrace a brighter, healthier, and more fulfilled lifestyle.
Founder and fitness enthusiast, Lyndsay Doran, presents the best activewear and routine for women of various backgrounds, supporting the scope of ‘female empowerment’ in the MENA region. Learn more about the DNA behind Doran’s all-inclusive brand L’Couture in Dubai.
Written by: Contributing Editor, Reefaya Noortaj
Fitness was once a fad during the 80’s and 90’s trail blazed by the legendary Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford. Now in the 21st century, it has become an ingrained and vital routine for men and women of all ages to practice. Fitness for women, in particular, has skyrocketed under the ‘Women Empowerment’ umbrella, encouraging women of all backgrounds to nourish their bodies with physical activity. Over the recent years, the Middle East’s sports apparel market is estimated to register a CAGR of 4.3% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2028. Founder, entrepreneur and fitness enthusiast, Lyndsay Doran, founded L’Couture Collections in Dubai in 2019. It is a luxury activewear brand aimed at empowering women both on and off the gym. Originally from Scotland, UK, Lyndsay moved to Dubai about nine years ago and set forth a career with Emirates, before starting her entrepreneurial journey. The inspiration behind the company was born from Lyndsay’s fitness journey, which took off in 2016. She spotted a gap in the Dubai market for good quality, comfortable, and feminine fitness clothing materials that represented all women and did not compromise on the performance aspect of gym wear. According to Lyndsay, the UAE encourages women to adopt a fit lifestyle. To her, the culture around females and fitness is heading in a positive direction, “Dubai is a fitness hub and having sunshine every day helps motivate you to look after your health and wellbeing. There’s a huge choice of incredible gyms, with some great women-only gyms or women-only classes so I feel Dubai is encouraging their female residents to keep fit!”
L’Couture focuses on creating a community and empowering women of all backgrounds to embrace a brighter, healthier, and more fulfilled lifestyle. The products are designed to form the body and function, taking the pursuit of a flexible active lifestyle. The brand follows current trends of designs and as well as pushes new activewear designs that are new in the market, keeping them fresh and fashionable. Presenting consumers with high-quality fabrics and detailing whilst deeply inspired by the strength, confidence, and drive of women. What makes L’Couture unique is that it is powered by an all-female team in Dubai, around the same time that women are at the forefront of SME’s in the UAE. Lyndsay says “Our core principle is rooted in the opportunity to uplift and through our product, provide women with the opportunity to own their individuality, take control and be the best versions of themselves.” Having started and built the brand entirely herself, Lyndsay has been involved in every corner of L’Couture’s foundation. With heaping success in less than a year, the brand has been recognized as one of the prominent names in the UAE. As a result, the very first L’Couture boutique opened this Spring close to the iconic Burj Al Arab. Each collection that L’Couture releases, holds a strong emphasis on functionality, quality and style, bringing us the latest range Vitality Collection, embedding the brand’s core values of women empowerment in every collection that is released.
With almost every industry somehow affected by COVID-19, the fitness industry was one of the main industries to get hit by the shambling global economy. Lyndsay shares that the gym and fitness centres in Dubai have placed measures in place to follow the guidelines. “When training, you have to wear a mask, but can lower this when performing any strenuous exercise. The gyms are fully equipped with sanitisers and wipes to keep everything clean! I think it’s been a positive change; the gyms are far cleaner than pre-COVID! You feel very comfortable, assured and at ease,” says Lyndsay.
The future for the fitness industry in the MENA and UAE region will continue to be a major focus on physical fitness to actively entice women to lead in fitness regimes. Additionally, according to Lyndsay “I also think we will start to see a focus on mental health and wellbeing too, which is super important. This is something we are focusing on a lot at L’Couture, we are continually looking at ways to support the physical and mental health of our community. We have big plans for this, stay tuned!”
About The Editor
Born in Bangladesh and raised in the Middle East, UAE and Bahrain, Reefaya is a postgraduate from The London School of Economics in U.K. and an undergraduate from Sussex University. Reefaya has an immense love for sustainable fashion, social development and art.