This article is part of a series we are running ahead of the second edition of our Mada Market to feature the participating vendors.
There are design elements in everything around us, from lavish home decor to something as simple as the notebooks we write in.
At this year’s Mada Market, we’ve aimed to bring our audience a broad representation of the motivations – big and small – inspiring Egypt’s young, innovative designers: be it a desire to address Egypt’s waste management problems, a passion to bring bygone aesthetics into modern accessories, an aspiration to produce local material that meets the highest standards, or even the simple idea of marrying a love for cooking with a love for woodworking.
Wherever the inspiration comes from, the community of young designers working to create and recreate everything around them today is giving the market a plethora of products in all categories to choose from. Here’s a look at everything on offer in our Design category.
ariika
This year Ariika is furnishing our event with its comfortable and colorful bean bags.
Since its launch in 2011 by four American University in Cairo students – Hassan and Shahir Arslan, Khaled Attallah and Mohamed Bahgat – Ariika has become the largest manufacturer and distributor of bean bags in Egypt.
Having steadily expanded its portfolio, the company now provides a range of innovative and functional home products in the form of floating bags and mats, pillows and air puffs. They also swiftly began capitalizing on corporates’ desire to use bean bags as a promotional tool.
Ariika now runs four stores, three of them seasonal plus the Cairo flagship. As it celebrates its fifth anniversary, the company is gearing up to announce a brand new product very soon.
Promotion: Ariika is offering event-exclusive 15 percent discount vouchers.
Reform
Reform Studio began with a mission to tackle Egypt’s waste management problem.
Product designers Hend Riad and Mariam Hazem set out to create Plastex, an eco-friendly material made by weaving discarded plastic bags, in 2013. Plastex extends the life cycle of single-use plastic bags in the form of an award-winning handmade fabric.
Initially designed to raise awareness about the possibilities of reusing discarded plastic bags, Plastex is now being used to create a diverse selection of pioneering products, mainly colorful and comfortable furniture.
“We are interested in taking on sustainable and environmental issues, and solving them through researching, designing and prototyping,” the founders say. “Our goal is to produce simple and innovative products with added value that reflect people’s needs and desires.”
Up-Fuse
In the same vein, Up-Fuse is a social enterprise that designs and produces bags made from up-cycled plastic bags and environmentally friendly material.
The company is part of a global movement to prompt consumers to ask #whomademyclothes? Called Fashion Revolution, the movement has representatives in more than 80 countries working to promote a safer, cleaner and more transparent fashion industry. Up-Fuse coordinated Fashion Revolution Egypt to coincide with the global Fashion Revolution Week in late April.
Through working with local NGOs, Up-Fuse supports Cairo’s zabaleen community of garbage collectors and sorters, from whom a lot of their material is sourced. While the brand’s freshly launched spring/summer 2016 collection uses more colorful patterns than before, the premise of the designs is a constant: using up-cycled material to offer fashion that “loves and respects the earth,” as founders Rania Rafie and Yara Yassin say.
Promotion: Up-Fuse is offering 10 percent off purchases made on Saturday at the Mada Market.
Anamel Masreya
Because we’re aiming to emphasize the importance of supporting social enterprises and projects with a positive social impact at this year’s Mada Market, we brought on board Anamel Masriya.
Anamel Masriya is a program of the Association for Women’s Total Advancement and Development, an NGO founded in 2008 that works with women and young people to develop professional and personal skills and gain social and economic power.
Anamel Masriya supports local artisans’ economic development while focusing on preserving Egypt’s cultural heritage, aiming to create a new generation of entrepreneurial artisans by connecting three hubs: producers with little market access, talented talented designers who have little production experience, and marketing expertise.
NM
If you want to find out more about social entrepreneurship and what it means to run an enterprise with a positive social impact, interact with our Premium Vendor Nahdet El Mahrousa (NM)at the Mada Market. On Saturday from 2 to 4 pm, an NM expert leads mini-mentorship sessions with aspiring social entrepreneurs. If you have the skills, experience and passion to become a mentor, you’ll be able to get more information on how you can join the NM community.
The NGO was founded 2003 and has since incubated over 75 social enterprises in the fields of job creation, education, scientific innovation, youth development, environment, healthcare, and arts and culture. Through its flagship program, the Incubator of Innovative Social Enterprises, NM supports social entrepreneurs by providing capacity building, technical support, access to networks and seed funding.
Many of their incubated projects operate in artisanship and design. Thaat empowers local artisans, particularly women, by improving the productivity, design, quality and variety of existing local handicrafts. Yadaweya is Egypt’s first online fair-trade marketplace, connecting local artisans with customers across Egypt and the wider world. Allaga aims to spread an Egyptian-international fashion identity, fusing international fashion trends and the creations by Egyptian craftspeople and artisans. GebRaa works to protect traditional Egyptian crafts from disappearing by reintroducing them as modern, green, handcrafted, socially responsible and ethical products.
They also incubate Nawaya and Outa Hamra (Red Tomato), who are participating in Mada Market in different forms.
Pretty Practical
Several of our vendors have taken up the task of working with wood.
Husband and wife team Sherine Shoukry and Ahmed Coutry have combined a shared love for food and woodworking into a new brand of inspirational cooking utensils and kitchen accessories that make food-making both practical and pretty.
Once they had that idea, choosing a name came easily: Pretty Practical utensils and accessories are 100 percent handmade from the couple’s workshop at home. Beyond this first collection, the duo plan on extending their designs outside the kitchen to offer a broader range of home accessories.
So if it’s time to upgrade your cooking utensils, we might have just what you’re looking for.
Block B
Block B Furniture attempts to mirror the various new faces and facelifts of Middle Eastern cities, says founder Ahmed Abuzaid.
“It’s very important for me to not show my pieces in a usual setting,” he adds. “Keep them out of context. I want the customer to create their own environment or setting for them.”
Block B’s furniture and home accessories aim to bring a youthful energy to our homes, with unique designs that are affordable but still have a couture touch. Watch out for the forthcoming line of up-cycled furniture with pieces that will be rescued, stripped and reimagined.
Polygon
If you’re looking for a new way to light up your home or office, come and see Polygon EG’s sleek, clever pieces at the Mada Market. The company makes laser-cut wooden fixtures with evocative geometric designs that create warm and playful lighting techniques.
Launched in 2014 by architect Magdy Gobba with his sons Mahmoud and Mohamed as co-founders, Polygon is on the way to becoming the destination for wooden home decor.
Reem Jano
From wood to wire, brass, silver and gold, jewelry making is still a booming trend in Egypt. With Reem Jano’s work, you immediately see that “bold yet wearable” defines her collections.
Reem began by making wire jewelry but now her materials include brass, silver and gold. As an interior architect, she says she has been heavily influenced by art, fashion, geometry and the most intricate of details, all of which translate into the way she molds raw materials into statement necklaces, rings, earrings and more. It’s easy to see that she also takes inspiration from Ancient Egyptian aesthetics, but in a way that is fresh and sensitive.
Alaa Makes
Freshly launched in April by Alaa Hindia, this young brand creates handmade, easy-to-wear jewelry using brass and semi-precious stones with a design aesthetic that’s animated beautifully by imagination, nature and heritage.
This Saturday, Alaa Makes will feature its delicate star and camel earring designs at Mada Market.
Shakhaleel
Shakhaleel bags and accessories make a colorful statement on the possibilities of folk-inspired art and design.
Designer Amira Ayoub combines a surprising textures and imagery with brass, leather, enamel, Egyptian fabrics and semi-precious stones to create bold bags, necklaces, rings and earrings that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
Showayt Wara2
Showayt Wara2, which translates into “a bunch of paper,” manufactures sturdy notebooks with creative designs and 3D texturing.
This new brand was just founded in March by Bemen Wagdy Gabrial, Mario Albert, Martina Guirguis and Jack George, who have the collective vision of bringing higher levels of quality to the shape, design and production of locally-made stationary.
They will be contributing samples of their products to the Mada Market raffle.
Man Brand
Beards made a decided comeback not so long ago, and it looks like they’re here to stay.
According to The Man Brand, sporting a beard is more of a lifestyle than a mere fashion choice. Aiming to give some guidance to the men of Egypt on how to best groom and style their beards, The Man Brand began with the idea of building a community around the resurgence of the trend and everything that comes with it.
But it’s not just about styling facial hair – the brand sells a line of functional and wearable accessories.
