Almah
Egypt Fashion Week’s second edition did not simply return to Cairo; it rose like a mirage made real, an ode to heritage titled “Evolution” that turned the city’s historic heart into a living, breathing atelier. Over four charged days, fashion was not merely shown but argued, tasted, debated, and ultimately inhabited, as Egypt’s design community claimed its place on the global map with a distinctly contemporary Egyptian voice.
The story opened on November 27th behind the gates of the Italian Ambassador’s residence, where an intimate trunk show of the best Egyptian designers unfolded as a diplomatic pas de deux between Cairo and Rome. Under the patronage of H.E. Agostino Palese, Italian guests including couturier Maurizio Galante and representatives from White Milano met Egypt’s new guard of designers, sealing cultural ties not with protocol but with silhouettes, fabrics, and shared visions of craft. The evening continued over a curated Italian–Egyptian culinary journey by Black O., Granita, and Maison Choc, a sensorial prelude to a weekend in which every detail—from a plate to a hemline—was part of the narrative.
The next morning, Egypt Fashion Week threw open its doors to the public, commandeering the Consoleya building and Bedair House on Talaat Harb Street, spaces revived by Coterie and reimagined as a vertical fashion playground. Visitors entered through a lush courtyard and VALU café before stepping into “Room Service,” an immersive activation on the fifth floor that felt like wandering through the private rooms of Cairo’s most intriguing designers and artisans. Higher up, runway shows curated by industry icon Amina Shelbaya sent models, coiffed and polished by Al Sagheer Salons, down the catwalk in a steady pulse of linen, cotton, and handwork that fused ancient techniques with urban sharpness.
But this edition was as cerebral as it was glamorous. Across two days, more than 30 speakers took to panels that cut through the noise to tackle design, craftsmanship, education, sustainability, finance, media, intellectual property, and youth and women’s empowerment. Voices such as Ayman Fakoussa of The Qode, cultural ambassador HRIH Archduchess Camilla von Habsburg-Lothringen, Azza Fahmy head designer Amina Ghali, Camilla Fracasso Diaferia of White Milano, and Shirene Rifai of Jordan Fashion Week sat alongside Egyptian and regional leaders, while workshops by Laith Maalouf, Walid Khiry, and MSNj—who literally spin cactus into yarn—pushed the conversation toward a new material future.
Education and emerging talent were not a side note but a central pillar, with eight Egyptian fashion programs, some in partnership with the International Trade Centre’s GTEX program and Drosos Foundation, presenting standout student work. Diwan Bookstore’s fashion library anchored this ecosystem in theory and history, surrounding the week’s spectacle with the quiet rigor of research. On the exhibition floors, more than 40 brands—including ALIEL, MALAIKA, MEROE, MIX AND MATCH, NADA SROOR, NADINE CHAMAA, PAZ Cairo, SARA ONSI, SIWA Creations, TANIS, and many others—turned consoles and corners into micro-boutiques, a vibrant proof of the country’s creative breadth.
The runway schedule culminated on November 29th with a choreography of shows that moved from the British University collection through GTEX-presented collectives to Cairo Design District students and graduates, and into standalone moments from ALMAH, NADINE CHAMAA with GYPPO, PAZ Cairo, and MIX AND MATCH. [attached_file:file:1] Each show felt like a chapter in a larger manifesto: Egypt’s fashion identity is not emerging, it is here—and it speaks many dialects.
Fittingly, the finale on November 30th shifted from spectacle to ownership with “Shop the Runway” at JAY Store in New Cairo, where visitors could buy the pieces they had just fallen for under the lights. It was the closing gesture of a week built on collaboration—backed by a constellation of partners from Coterie/Sigma, the Italian Embassy, Afreximbank and Ulter by Valu to cultural, educational, and media allies—propelling a new generation of Egyptian talent from catwalk to closet, from local pride to global stage.
