Fresh Designers


DINA AYESH
Some people look at the world and see shades of grey. Dina Ayesh sees colors; wonderful, vibrant, lush, exotic color. Some people keep the colors they see inside; an incandescent inner landscape of sparkling malachite green, whirling into atomic tangerine, soaring through cerulean blue, and waltzing with venetian red. Ayesh doesn’t keep her colors inside, she wears them. It hasn’t always been easy, however, finding dresses to match her unique outlook, dresses that flirt and tease with the senses, tickling the fancy, and flaunting their elegant flamboyance. So Dina decided to design and create her own. In 2009, she took this one step further and translated her vision into a career in fashion design. Inspired by the colorful chaos and cacophony of life, travelling and living abroad, and the phantasmagoria of fiction; her collections embody her fantasies about different eras and cultures. Dina believes that women today live in cocoons of stress, trapped inside the humdrum and monotonous routine of daily life; tangled in the skeins of marriage, motherhood, family, and work; constantly under pressure and perpetually in demand. Sometimes, women need to rediscover their femininity; they need to indulge in beauty, glamour, and sensuality. However busy or serious life may seem, women can find joy in glorious color, can find pleasure in a touch of luxury, and can find empowerment and serenity in a beautiful mirror image. Dina taps into the butterfly hidden inside every woman. At Dina Ayesh Night, dresses are designed to celebrate the brilliance and profusion of color, the sensuality of fine fabrics, the pure luxury of sparkling stones and rich trims. These dresses are not for the understated. They are pieces of beauty, in which every woman can feel like she is breaking out of a chrysalis and unfurling her wings. Wearing a Dina Ayesh Night, every woman can feel like a queen, a butterfly, or a star. Dressed in magic, her limit is the sky.





AMINA KHALIL
A young Egyptian fashion designer, born and raised in Egypt. She studied fashion design and marketing in London. Amina K. is a fashion line dedicated to and inspired by Egypt, aiming to use Egyptian resources in every detail, fabric, and workmanship. Production is carried out in local workshops, mostly handmade, allowing Amina K. to pay close attention to details and adding a personal touch. The collection expresses a lot about the character and vision of Amina K. as a designer. Being always inspired by traditional Egyptian garments and textiles, Amina K. believes that there are endless possibilities for one to create original shapes and looks that have not been experimented with before. Garments are designed to be mixed, matched and layered together. Collections are exclusive and limited. By combining traditional Egyptian silhouettes and giving them a modern Western twist Amina K. aims at introducing a new style. Every collection bares an expression of my love for matching unconventional prints, colours, styles and fabrics. My inspirations come from our fascinating, multi cultured world and translates into multi layered cloths and designs. At the end everything just falls into place by finding the common thread that connects it all together.



AZZA FAHMY  
My long journey with jewellery-making all started with a book…” AF It all started when Azza Fahmy came across an art book about classical jewellery of the Middle Ages in Europe. The book was in German and cost 17.5 EGP - a fortune at the time- but neither language nor price barriers stopped her from buying it. Fascinated with the designs of the jewellery, this book was the light that ignited her inspiration. With a B.A. in Interior Design, Azza Fahmy had planned to join the Faculty of Fine Arts to get a second degree in the Applied Arts Department, she soon discarded this plan in favour for an on the job training in the field of jewellery design.
She decided to become an apprentice in Khan El Khalili and learn at the hands of one of the most skilled masters in this craft. "So I tied my hair back, put on my overalls and spent my days in a workshop full of men learning the tricks of the jewellery making trade."

It was culturally and socially unacceptable for a fine arts graduate who held a respectable job in the government to work as an apprentice in a workshop. Though she was deemed crazy by colleagues and friends, her goal was crystal clear for she had found her niche in life. ”My apprenticeship period in Khan El Khalili stretched for two years I recall with nostalgia and affection” Azza Fahmy reminisces.
The first time Fahmy actually handled the tools of the craft, she made a few small rings that were sold at her first exhibition attended by friends, journalists and intellectuals. However, in the mid seventies when the British Council decided to send her on a fellowship to study jewellery craft in the City of London Polytechnic School Azza saw her real chance of turning her dream into a reality. There, she learned the theoretical aspect of what she had practically learned of the craft. It was an enormous leap forward, and she felt deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn how to best execute most of her designs.
Fahmy came back to Cairo with a wider horizon and greater confidence as a jewellery maker. By the early eighties, she had set up her own workshop and employed a team of only two workers.

…..Turned Jewellery
Always searching for new sources of inspiration and innovation that would shape her creations, Fahmy began exploring the artistic, intellectual and cultural history of Islamic design. Combining her research with her love for architecture, Azza Fahmy began to design one of her first collections which won her wide appeal and gave instant recognition to the collection. The collection was titled 'Houses of the Nile' and was inspired by Nubia and the traditional architecture of Egypt. It featured jewellery in the shape of small houses gorgeously encrusted with palm trees or rocks. As one critic wrote at the time, "the beauty of this collection is that most people never thought of wearing mud houses ... Azza Fahmy did." Fahmy did not stop there. She conducted countless hours of research and readings with the desire to translate one of her other passions, poetry, into jewellery collections of her own. As a result, her rendition of colloquial poems became an instant success. Fahmy read the poetry and engraved the verses on necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings and key chains. This brought broad and immediate appeal as many people not only chose beautiful, unique jewellery but the approach seem to satisfy a much needed cultural requirement as they feasted their souls with meaningful verses. From that point on, jewellery with inscribed and engraved verses became Fahmy's signature. Fahmy took this a step further through her love and passion with traditional jewellery. Her studies of the various ages and civilizations were the catalyst for the next turning point in her design career. Fahmy had found the winning combination; she chose traditional proverbs, had them written with beautiful calligraphy, inscribed them on silver and laid them with gold and, so, the Azza Fahmy trademark Culture Collection was born. She became an instant success; one so strong it would take her through the next twenty years.
Azza Fahmy continues to take her passion to new heights. She continues to do her favourite thing - designing jewellery, researching, being inspired and inspiring other people through her jewellery. By doing so, she has successfully transformed the concept of jewellery making from a craft to an art, and has managed to add a new dimension to the wearing of jewelry.

El Horreya: Designs for Freedom 
El Horreya is an ongoing dynamic design project created to support humanitarian organizations in need across the Middle East. Each piece is carefully hand crafted in Egypt, and the original designs reflect common aspects of the regions culture. A percentage of the proceeds will provide direct relief to those seeking help, hope, and a brighter future.









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