IF YOU have the joy of meeting Carmen Busquets, you will never forget it. Here is a person whose character surpasses even the loftiest of their roll-call successes. The Venezuelan-born philanthropist and entrepreneur has helped usher into the fashion industry companies such as Net-a-Porter, Cult Beauty, Cabus, and CoutureLab; and strategically invested in FarFetch, Lyst, and The Business of Fashion. While tech-driven ventures are Busquets’s forte (she is co-founding investor of The Floorr - a recently-launched platform that matches elevated e-commerce with discerning curators), sustainable fashion fundamentals and humanitarian causes belong in her heart. 

Busquets also sits at the top boardroom table for Glasswing International, Parsons School of Design, and Pacunam, to name a few. Naturally, we had a few questions to ask so we served up Deena’s Take Ten Qs:

#1 If you could have any famous writer (past or present) pen your biography, who would you most love to commission?

Oscar Wilde.

#2 There is one song that defines your energy when you enter a room, what is it?

Georges Bizet’s aria Habanera, from the opera Carmen.

#3 You don't collect this item but you could so easily have indulged in building a museum of...?

A culturally inclusive museum of modern and contemporary sculpture by established and emerging designers, artists and artisans from all over the world.

#4  It's 11am on a Sunday morning, what are you most often doing at that time?

Brunch.

#5  You've decided to have a dinner party with friends, and the first thing you organize is:

Setting a theme for the evening, deciding what I am going to wear and ensuring the bathroom is immaculately stocked with products and candles.

#6  Which motto defines your way of being?

I would rather be free and happy than right. (One of the lessons taught in the book A Course in Miracles).

#7  Do you play to win at chess or play to enjoy the game?

Always enjoy the game.

#8  What would no-one ever expect you to think before you enter an event, but you often do?

That I would like to take a moment to sit quietly at the back of the room and observe from a distance.

#9 What emotionally moves you more than anything else?

Empathy and respect for all human beings, regardless of their social status or background.

#10 Describe yourself in one word.

Free spirit.

Related Reading: Carmen Busquets on Her Mother’s Foundational Influence (Mom’s The Word)