Long before there was any idea of a fashion brand, an Egyptian grandmother had an entire brand of her own, hidden in a place known only to her and the other women in her family, and that place was her closet.
Her wardrobe, in itself, was a brand, and she was a trendsetter and curator, dressing and accessorizing out of her love of self-expression, without being constrained or constrained by any global trend or outside opinion. The only opinion that mattered was the emotional connection she had with her clothes and, above all, with her bag.
Here, in their grandmother’s closet, live sisters Monaz and Aya Abdel Raouf, founders of the famous brand Okhytinthey began to build the emotional core of their brand.
It was through the small, often overlooked details that their grandmother paid attention to, such as how a piece of clothing or a pair of antique glasses could say so much about a person’s life and personality without them having to say a single word.
“My first memory of fashion was sitting with our grandmother,” Monaz tells Egyptian Streets. “She had this closet where she kept everything, clothes from the 50s, 60s, 70s. She saved them all, and we would go through them together.”
She adds, “We would spend hours with her as she talked about her old glasses, sharing with us where she wore each piece, and somehow making us feel as if we were right next to her in those moments.”
Before even thinking about launching a brand, the sisters already understood what it meant to gain emotional durability through a simple product. From the beginning, they were asking questions like: Why do we love the bag? And what creates this very special association with a particular bag?
This is the kind of emotional toughness makes One truly cherishes the fashion product and therefore cares for it in a sustainable, ethical and personal way.
Just as people care about their pets or loved ones, the same feeling of connection to a fashion item He encourages Shifting away from quantity-based consumption towards a more sustainable model designed to last across generations.
As the luxury market continues to be reshaped by rising prices and rising questions about sustainability,… Okhytin The sisters navigate the idea of emotional durability, as one bag is passed from grandmother to mother, and finally to daughter, simply because of her love of the bag.
Designed to last, not to replace
In the world of fashion, there’s always an appetite for the next big drop, the next aesthetic, the next campaign; An endless hunger for novelty and innovation in itself.
However, for Monaz and Aya, the emotional appeal of their brand lies not so much in constant reinvention as in reuse, staying true to their family’s past and their grandmother’s fashion heritage, while remaining relevant to the present.
In doing so, they maintain their brand not by constantly changing its personality, but by building an emotional world that people can return to and live in for years.
“We created this world from our imagination, from storytelling, from looking at a piece of fabric and imagining how it could be reused,” Aya says.
“I remember taking sweaters and pieces from my grandmother and turning them into something more modern, and pairing them with jeans, making them look modern.”
“In a way, this was our own interpretation of what the vintage trend has become today,” she says.
The brand achieves this by celebrating duality: tradition meets modernity, heritage reshaped for today, and cultural memory transformed into wearable art.
For example, structured silhouettes, tactile surfaces (embossed leather, metal mesh, intricate hardware) and nostalgic references evoke mid-century elegance or even older craft traditions, as if they could have been carried by an elegant woman decades ago.
Many designs also avoid fleeting trends, focusing instead on balance, proportion, and emotional depth. As the brand He crossesEach creation “exists out of season, is designed to last, and its significance deepens over time.”
The result is bags that feel like “portable art.” A structured top handle or geometric clutch may reflect the refined femininity of their grandmother’s era while incorporating contemporary, bold twists.
“A lineage of Surrealist abstract artists in the family has helped us express ourselves through different forms, always thinking through imagination,” Monaz explains.
For surrealist abstract artists, emotion is often the trigger Driving The force that shapes their work, drives them to create unusual shapes and visual languages that express feelings without being bound by realism.
Surrealist art moves beyond logic and speaks directly to emotion, which is also at the heart of surrealist art Okhytin brand; A deep emotional identity designed to make people feel something, to feel a certain mood or aura, even when it cannot be easily explained.
“Our goal is to ensure that every bag we design and every family we create speaks a distinct emotional language, leaving no doubt about the feeling we aim to evoke,” says Monaz.
In the same way, someone stands in front of a surrealist painting and feels something untranslatable, so he returns to it over the years while it lives on his wall, Okhytin The bag exists almost like a painting in itself, carrying multi-layered emotions and narratives inspired by Arab heritage.
For example, Okhytin Hosted The first ever dressage show in Egypt in February this year marked the launch of its new equestrian collection, rooted in a region where horses are part of its history, identity and symbolism.
From start to finish, the launch felt like an emotional experience; The emotions conveyed through the horse’s discipline and sensitivity reflect the strength of the Arab woman and the way she channels those emotions to navigate the world.
“When you think of horses, in global media, you often think of cowboys,” Aya explains. “It is very rare to see the Arabian horse glorified in the same space, especially in fashion. We felt that it was not represented enough, even though the horse has importance in our culture.”
“Then we decided to go further, to do a complete 360-degree tour. We looked at the horse’s training, movement and dance. We took a very international sport and reimagined it in an Arab context. The horses were also dancing to Arabic songs.”
Through its texture, the bag seeks to evoke feelings of equestrian bond. The hand-braided rope handle is inspired by the heritage of Arabian bridles and halters, which are a subtle expression of strength and grace.
“International brands have always stayed true to their roots,” Aya adds. “French houses remain French at their core, and Italian brands remain Italian.”
“Now, we are finally witnessing a truly original work of expression, something that comes authentically from the Middle East.”
The many feelings of the two sisters’ girl
To really speak to consumers, especially young women, the Okhytin The sisters navigated the tension between staying relevant in the Gen Z trend-driven landscape and maintaining the artistic spirit of their brand.
They knew that they didn’t want fashion to be just something consumers wore, but a way they could co-create it; A symbol of a specific identity or internal emotion, not just an external statement.
Through this they have built a cult-like fan base, allowing consumers to connect with certain emotions or identify with an item long before the point of purchase.
They have effectively createdOkhytin Girl, “in the same way that successful brands like Rude have embodied their own brands.”Rod’s daughterThrough a distinctive and well-known atmosphere.
“Over the past thirteen years, we’ve realized that we don’t just make products, we make icons. Some bags come as seasonal visitors, but others stay because they represent a true act of expression,” Munaz explains.
“While Aya may reach for the mahogany bag and I may reach for the bangle bag, we are the same.”Okhytin ‘Girl.’ It’s about recognizing that every woman is multi-layered; “It’s not just one thing,” she adds.
They embody these inner moods in what they call “characters,” aesthetic expressions of a single, complex personality.
the ‘Okhytin “Girl” is one identity, but it contains multitudes. It is not defined as being simple or strictly extreme; She is defined by her different opinions and changing moods.
To honor that, they’ve spent the past few months classification These layers of her personality are divided into six distinct motives: Air, Muse, Nomad, Modernist, Poet, and Goddess.
“Each character is inspired by the same woman, allowing two people to wear completely different lines under the same brand umbrella, yet share the same basic ethos,” Munaz explains.
Traditional brands often try to put women in a box, but women are more layered and hold more depth. As women who design for women, the Ukhitin sisters knew that their work had to be as layered as the women who wear it.
“It’s a family of bags where each line pays homage to a different personality, allowing the brand to grow and change just as we do,” says Aya.
To make each piece more personal, OKHTEIN now invites its community to the heart of the creative process. With the launch of the bespoke design service in Dubai and Riyadh, the brand is offering a fully customized pre-order experience that allows customers to participate in the design of their bags.
“We want these pieces to be more than just accessories; we want them to be very precious,” says Monaz. “By embroidering the customer’s initials or name inside the bag, we are creating something that is meant to be passed down through generations.”
“Imagine a daughter carrying her mother’s initials. This turns the bag into a living piece of family history.”
Now that the sisters have embraced motherhood, Ukhtyn is a living tribute to the “passing down” of the legacy from their grandmothers and mothers to their daughters.
It is a brand rooted in the feminine instinct to nurture and protect, weaving the warmth of family into the fabric of every bag.
