How Italian-Egyptian Entrepreneur Helen Nonini is Empowering Brands That Are Focused On Making A Social Change

Her latest project, AMA Soul, is a company creating sustainable turbans crafted by women who are trying to turn their life around from inside Italian prisons…

Milanese It-girl, Italian-Egyptian entrepreneur Helen Nonini is recognised citywide for her nonchalant-chic uniform involving blazers, kaftans, chunky cocktail rings and most of all, her signature sculpted turbans. A brand ambassador for luxury jeweller Pomellato, she has built a reputation for her business acumen and support for social impact brands, just as much as she has for her Nefertiti-esque beauty. Helen’s latest start-up, AMA Soul, may just be her biggest passion project yet, and it’s one she envisaged all on her own. A social-impact label of sustainable turbans and headbands produced in a non-profit workshop located in three Northern Italian prisons; Monza, Bollate and Milan’s San Vittore, the same prison former Gucci heiress Patrizia Reggiani called home following the murder she commissioned of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci.

“I think that it’s the right place because the individuals that are producing these products are facing a change… a rebirth in their lives and they have a lot weighing on their minds and heads,” Nonini points out during a photoshoot at Soul Green, a Milanese-born haute plant-based cuisine chain that also recently opened its doors in Dubai.

Born in Egypt, surrounded by papyrus and veiled feminine beauty, Helen grew up admiring the strong personalities of inspiring women such as Diana Vreeland, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Schiaparelli and Marisa Berenson. For the past 10 years, she’s relied on turbans to cover her relaxed, un-coiffed black pixie cut. Nearly all of the 200 headpieces she has in her closet were handcrafted with luxe Bonotto fabrics and made by Milanese milliner Altalen – both firms are assisting her and the Alice Cooperative to build AMA Soul.

An acronym for Ask Me Anything, AMA Soul is a metaphor for camaraderie and the sort of mental support necessary in confronting the various sorts of trauma, loss of a job or a loved one or dealing with an illness. “I’ve been wearing a turban consistently for ten years, so it was the right time. Fashion has the power to influence people, so in my own small way, I hope to be able to raise awareness about mental health and to show people that seeking help is an act of courage, not weakness.” Helen’s approach to the brand makes AMA Soul a sustainable company both from an environmental and human point of view because it uses only existing fabrics and empowers women to find their way back into society.

“Justice in my opinion, is not about judging others. It’s up to us to help those in difficulty or those who have made mistakes to be able to build a new life”

“Justice, in my opinion, is not about judging others. It’s up to us to help those in difficulty or those who have made mistakes to be able to build a new life,” she reflects, as make-up artist Paola Fortuna creates a smoky contour around her deep brown eyes and she eyes a cranberry Caftanii Firenze kaftan, one of her go-to looks.

It’s been a long journey, she explains. After launching her consultancy agency H.edge in 2015, the former equities trader who cut her teeth in banking, private equity and luxury concierge services, has aided brands in the worlds of cuisine and fashion to develop their business models, image and strategy. She’s experienced first-hand how unforgiving both the financial and fashion world can be on both the mind and soul.

Helen didn’t waste any time during the thick of the COVID pandemic. She used her free time to tailor her focus on brands that prioritise purpose over profits. In addition to founding AMA Soul, she is also now a brand advisor and a shareholder in two companies: Mindwork, a company that supports mental health in the workplace, and Game2Value, an HR tech project that utilises video games to evaluate skills and promote training on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, all of this in addition to her role as co-founder of The Dressing Screen which supports Made in Italy creativity and craftsmanship; and finally, she is the founder and CEO of Schwa, a Brand Strategy and D&I consultancy.

“This experience forced me to remain emotionally detached and to understand how there is no minimum when it comes to poverty and no maximum in the world of luxury”

The vast network of contacts Helen has cultivated over the last two decades has helped her in supporting many start-ups and small and corporate businesses in developing intuitive solutions and improvising, a talent she learned as head of operations at luxury concierge service company Quintessentially, when she was tasked with satisfying the whims of the rich and famous (inspiring her first book, Professione Problem Solver) including renting private jets and even procuring a liger, the hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger, for a client. Before that experience, Helen embarked on a year-long journey and soul detox through the shanty towns of Mumbai and New Delhi working in a school and vowing to commit her efforts to more charitable projects in the future. “This experience forced me to remain emotionally detached and to understand how there is no minimum when it comes to poverty and no maximum in the world of luxury.”

Despite her lavish wardrobe and golden Rolodex, she continues to use her image for a greater good, providing services for the Mario Negri pharmacological research institute and the Cooperative Alice on a non-profit basis. “Foundations like these serve a very important purpose at the very core of Made in Italy’s future: ethically Made in Italy that is.”

AMA Soul turbans and headbands are expected to be unveiled in May and will be on sale exclusively on The Dressing Screen website starting at 200 Euros (Dhs826).

Lead image caption credits: Blazer, Dhs5,850, Nasco Unico. Turban, POA, Altalen. Necklace, POA; Rings, POA; Bracelet, POA, all Pomellato. Top and Trousers, Helen’s own

Photography: Alessio Spanu. Make-Up: Paola Fortuna. Styling & Production: Ines Guendouz. Photographer’s Assistant: Federico Sacchi. Stylist’s Assistant: Nidhi Govindhan

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2022 issue