In a press conference held on Tuesday March 21st in Cairo, The Egyptian Fashion & Design Council (EFDC) announced the launch of the first and official Egypt Fashion Week (EFW) titled: “Past, Present & Future” to take place from May 12 to 15, 2023 in partnership with Launchmetrics, a partner of fashion weeks worlwide including NY and Paris.
EFW, under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning & Economic Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, is co-produced by Creative Headz, a world-class Austrian company with 15 years of experience organizing fashion shows, including MQ Vienna Fashion Week and Thai Silk Fashion Week.
Renowned Egyptian artist Hossam Dirar famous Nefertiti and Tut Ankh Amun paintings, grace the EFW’s invitations and official poster while Don Tanani is in charge of the creative direction with local suppliers Tanis and Target contributing to the set design and landscaping.
Egypt Fashion Week, is set to celebrate Egypt’s rich heritage and civilization, inspired by its culture, and to show the world Egypt’s present: a pool of creatives, craftsmen, and industry leaders that have forged a contemporary Egyptian DNA; and most importantly to look at the future, projecting a vision and direction that combines 5000 years of inspiration, craftsmanship, and resources with today’s know-how and fast-paced technology driven trends, that allows Egypt to be a reckoned industry player in the future.
Susan Sabet, co-founder of the Egyptian Fashion & Design Council, said “Inspired by the rising number of emerging designers and growth of the local fashion industry, we knew the time had come to show the world our pool of creative talents and local cotton and textile industry. The EFW program goes far beyond fashion shows and exhibitions and aims to connect the local, African, and Middle Eastern markets through design, craftsmanship, education, sustainability, production, and retail. We are very proud and grateful to have won over so many distinguished speakers and major worldwide media partners and attendance to ensure that all eyes will be on Egyptian fashion!”
Paul Antaki, co-founder & President of the Egyptian Fashion & Design Council said “The Fashion industry in Egypt goes as far back as its civilization, so it is about time to revive it and present it to the world in its modern image nurtured by the many existing talents and emerging ones. The EFDC (Egyptian Fashion and Design Council) worked hard for the past four years to make a great success out of this event. We aim to make all Egyptians proud of their locally manufactured products inspired by the past the present and the future.”
The events will kick off with an opening night on May 12th at the Egyptian Museum, featuring the “Best of Egyptian Designers” fashion show curated by American stylist Julie Matos followed by a gala dinner.
The following two days will be held at the Museum of Agriculture, the second most important agricultural museum in the world, which will be opening its doors for the first time after five years of renovation for EFW.
On the museum grounds EFW will be holding runway shows and exhibitions of Egyptian fashion, accessory and jewelry designers; showcases of local and international fashion schools including The Azza Fahmy Design Studio, Fashion & Design Center, Cairo Design District, FAD Dubai, Mod’Art and Creative Space Beirut along fashion institutions from Morocco, Tunis and Jordan will be presented in the Cotton Museum. In addition, guests will discover designer exhibitions curated by the Saudi Fashion Commission, Lagos Fashion Week, Jordan Fashion Week and GTEX.
Activations will extend to include panel talks by local, regional and international fashion industry leaders in the fields of design, education, craftsmanship, production, retail, sustainability, women empowerment, media and finance.
Among the distinguished guests and speakers are also members of the BOF500 list, the annual list of the 500 most influential people in the fashion industry published by Business of Fashion: Diane Pernet, Omoyemi Akerele, Jamila Halfichi, Burak Cakmak and EFDC board member and PASHION publisher Susan Sabet.
EFW will end on May 15th with “Shop the Runway” and more fashion experiences at EFW partner Mall of Arabia.
Among the many other sponsors and partners are BMW, African Export Import Bank, PremiumCard, L’Oreal, Canon, The Egyptian Cotton Association, Al Ahram Beverages, The US Embassy in Egypt, The French Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Egypt, The Semiramis InterContinental Hotel and Snap 14 Productions.
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