EXOTIC SKN® Founder Zahra Karim Wins First Place in the University of Westminster Big Idea Competition
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In April 2025, Zahra Karim, Founder of EXOTIC SKN®, won first place in the Accelerator category of the University of Westminster Big Idea Competition. Achieved during the brand’s launch year, the result provided early institutional validation for Karim’s vision to build a London-born world of luxury self-care.
Early recognition for EXOTIC SKN®
Karim founded EXOTIC SKN® to elevate everyday self-care through products that bring together performance, considered design and meaningful ritual.
Winning first place gave the business independent recognition at a formative stage. It marked the strength of the proposition behind EXOTIC SKN® and created an early public milestone in the brand’s development.
The achievement also reinforced Karim’s ambition to build beyond individual products: creating a distinctive luxury brand with the potential to grow internationally while retaining its identity and purpose.
From law graduate to founder
Karim studied Law LLB (Honours) at the University of Westminster before moving into entrepreneurship and launching EXOTIC SKN® in 2025.
Later that year, she returned to the University as the featured speaker for its What It Takes to Build a Business with Purpose event. During the session, Karim shared lessons from building a brand rooted in meaning and impact, alongside practical insights for aspiring founders.
Her progression from law graduate to founder, competition winner and speaker reflects the founder-led journey behind EXOTIC SKN®, one shaped by clear vision, disciplined execution and long-term ambition.
Building beyond the milestone
EXOTIC SKN® is being built with both commercial and social purpose. Its product world centres on elevated, performance-led self-care, while EXOTIC SKN FOUNDATION® extends the wider mission through education and reproductive-health knowledge.
The April 2025 result did not define the business. It documented its early momentum.
For Karim, the focus remains on turning that recognition into enduring products, a globally relevant luxury brand and measurable impact.
Official source: University of Westminster — Zahra Karim’s Big Idea Competition recognition
About Zahra Karim
Zahra Karim is the Founder of EXOTIC SKN®, a London-born luxury lifestyle and self-care brand creating highly functional, visually elevated rituals for everyday life. She is a University of Westminster Law LLB (Honours) graduate and first-place winner in the Accelerator category of the University’s Big Idea Competition.
