Topping this year’s Forbes Middle East’s 30 Under 30 List are two Egyptian designers. Sisters Aya and Mounaz Abdelraouf, the designers behind the luxury label Okhtein, are the most recent to be featured on the esteemed list and appear on the front cover of the March issue.
Making the list alongside Emirati-Yemeni singer Balqees and Lebanese jewelry designer Ralph Masri, the sisters took to social media to share their excitement at seeing themselves on the cover of Forbes, shot by Egyptian photographer, Aisha Al Shabrawy, stating, “Thank you to everyone who helped us make it, we’re just getting started! #blessed.”
The publication also shared the announcement of the list and March issue, “Our March edition features the Middle East’s 30 Under 30 – a collection of the youngest and brightest minds in the region for 2019. We take an in-depth look at how two Egyptian sisters, Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf, transformed a homegrown fashion label into a #global #icon,” on Instagram.
Okhtein was founded by Aya and Mounaz in 2013, choosing the name as it is the Arabic word for “sisters”, and has secured a huge celebrity fanbase with renowned stars including Winnie Harlow, Camila Coelho, Beyonce, and Jordanian Queen Rania wearing their bags and belts. The design duo call upon their heritage and deep rooted culture for inspiration and refer to Cairo’s architecture and traditional Egyptian artisanship for their much coveted pieces.
