Adaptive fashion trailblazer, Hanan Tantush, on pitching in Barcelona as a Santander X Global awards finalist

It’s been quite a year for BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear graduate, Hanan Tantush, and her groundbreaking fashion label; Intotum. From clinching victory in last year’s LCF Enterprise Challenge, to winning the 2023 Mayors Entrepreneur competition and even showcasing her designs on the London Fashion Week catwalk, there is absolutely no doubt that Intotum and its focus on clothing that’s both inclusive and empowering is making waves in the world of adaptable fashion. And after sealing 1^st place in the Santander X UK awards University category back in December, a trip to Barcelona to compete on the international stage in the Santander X Global awards awaited.

But what is it that sets Intotum apart you might be wondering? What is it that’s dazzling people all over the globe? After discovering the sheer lack of functional yet stylish options for the disabled community following her grandfather’s stoma and urostomy surgery, Hanan felt motivated and inspired to ensure nobody had to experience the same issues her grandfather faced ever again. This was the driving force behind her adaptive clothing brand ‘Intotum’, a brand that focuses on clothing that can ‘empower the disabled community through choice and representation’. Fast forward the best part of a year and this absolute trailblazer finds herself competing in Santanders international entrepreneurship competition as one of 36 winners of their respective local awards (hailing from Spain, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and the UK) to ultimately be in with a chance of winning cash prizes and additional benefits that will take their business to the next level.

We sat down with Hanan to find out more about her experience at the Santander X Global awards in Barcelona, the process behind preparing for a pitch in a global competition and the truly incredible journey she has been on with Intotum since graduating.

Firstly, massive congratulations on taking part in the Santander X Global Awards. Please talk us through the key points of the experience and how you were feeling throughout?

The main event was a pitch held in the middle of the Mobile world conference, a massive conference in the centre of Barcelona that is attended by over 100,000 people including international governments and the Spanish royal family. I flew out on the Monday ready to pitch on the Tuesday and be back home on Thursday. It was nice after the busyness of our show the week earlier to be away from London, also to be in the nice warm weather, and I took some time the day after the conference to go to the beach and explore Barcelona.

It was a very nerve wracking experience, especially being in another country. I was the youngest competitor and despite having travelled quite a lot, it was my first time ever getting on a plane on my own. I am very confident in speaking about my business and running my business on my own but there's definitely things that still make me nervous.

After arriving in Spain and making my way to my hotel I took the time to prep and practice my pitch as much as I could before choosing to relax and get to know the other businesses in the evening. The day of the event we had an early start and made our way to the MWC conference. The stage that we pitched at was right in the middle of the conference so I was very aware that I need to project my voice and be very confident in my pitching. I am very happy with how I pitched and feel I represented my brand Intotum confidently and passionately. It was also a great experience to explain what Intotums done and all our achievements in our first year on a global platform. Winning Santander X UK is what allowed me to have this platform, which is a really big deal especially as a very new brand, having met the CEO of Santander Spain and Microsoft Spain all because of entering a competition six months ago.

Talk me through the process of preparing for a pitch in an international competition?

I really restructured my pitch, thinking about the global applications of my CLOTHING and the worldwide impact we can have. This meant I had to do a lot of research into the global marketplace and figures and make sure that my references would be understood in Spain. I also reworked my page to include my most recent achievements including our London fashion week show in February. This meant turning to business advisors I had on the Santander UK team for advice and pitch practice help. I've pitched quite a few times now so I'm confident in my body language and the way I speak but you definitely have to tweak things so that they work depending on where you are.

How did it feel to connect with other entrepreneurs representing universities from all over the globe?

It was really cool to meet people that travelled from Mexico, Uruguay, Portugal etc to be there. Especially meeting entrepreneurs that are on similar journeys to myself, where they've come up with an idea and  started something on their own. It definitely makes the whole experience better when you meet other people in a similar place in their business journey. You're able to discuss what you're up to and the challenges you're facing and get insights from people at the same place as you or that have been through the same things, it also makes the whole experience less nerve racking because everybody wanted each other to pitch well.

You have been on an incredible journey over the past 12 months, what has been the highlight for you?

I'd say the highlight for me over the past 12 months was our debut London Fashion Week show in February. It was such an amazing experience to have a show on the official schedule, less than a year after graduating. It's the kind of thing that you dream about but I'm just so happy it all came together.

Getting a whole show together is a very stressful experience and requires a lot of running about the place!  I'm just really happy that it was received so well by the disabled community and is solidified that intotum is making a positive impact in adaptive fashion.

What would you say has been the most important thing you’ve learned throughout your journey?

I'd say I've learnt to be very adaptable, things do go wrong sometimes and others go better than you expected! I had no idea a year ago that I would be running my own brand, have my own studio, and be working towards a full collection launch. I would definitely say I've learnt to change plans and come up with solutions on the spot! But also to build my network and the people that want to support me and see Intotum succeed.

You’ve achieved so much already in your career, please tell us a bit more about the milestones you’re working towards next?

Our next steps are a big campaign shoot, I've also hired my first member of staff who will be starting in April! We are then working towards our first ready to wear collection that should be launching in a few months time. We are really hoping to just continue to grow and connect with the disabled community in order to have a positive impact and continue creating fashionable adaptive clothing.

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