Neri Sillaman

An entrepreneurship and strategy specialist in the fashion industry, with a wealth of professional, academic and entrepreneurial experience, Dr Neri Karra Sillaman is an award-winning author, speaker and consultant.

She has guest lectured for companies including Apple and Credit Suisse, as well as for prominent institutions such as the London School of Economics, the Royal College of Art, Imperial College London, and was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the New York University (NYU).

She worked extensively with hundreds of businesses, start-ups, and non-governmental organisations, with the emphasis on innovation, creativity, design-based competitive advantage and sustainability.

Neri's academic research on entrepreneurship, family business and strategy has been published extensively in top-tier academic journals, such as Harvard Business Review Ascend, Academy of Management Proceedings, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Strategic Organization, Journal of Business Venturing, Long Range Planning, and Organizational Research Methods. Her thesis was a finalist at the Academy of Management for the William H Newman Award for Best Paper Thesis, and her award-winning book is Fashion Entrepreneurship: The Creation of the Global Fashion Business (Routledge, 2021). She has been quoted for her opinion on the industry in the Financial Times, Newsweek, the Business of Fashion, and WWD.

In addition to her academic career, Neri is the founder of a multi-million dollar sustainable leather goods and accessories brand, which has been recognised both as a B-Corp and a Positive Luxury venture.

Neri received her Doctorate from the University of Cambridge, her Masters from Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, all in Business Management.