This is Mostafa, the son of one of our craftsmen. He built his own mini-loom to practice his weaving skills after school; aspiring to be just like his father.
We aim to create a culture where the young people of Fowa can take pride and continue to see potential in the craft of their ancestors.
It was a moment to cherish! After more than a year of going back and forth with work related to setting up our first shop, we finally did it! Opening our first physical and official shop was a huge milestone for us; it meant that we were fortunate enough to reach a level of success allowing us to move forward, all thanks to our clients who have supported us in the past years and to our hardworking team and craftsmen. Space Design Thinking of the shop’s interior we wanted the new space to convey our identity, so instead of opting out to work with an interior design firm; we decided to design the space by ourselves, ensuring that our identity and aesthetic was reflected in every corner of the shop. The moment you walk in you’ll find our stories and pictures all around the walls, but right in the middle you’ll spot our most important story, our impact and craftspeople. Our ceiling even has hanging looms representing our main craft! Along with two other talented furniture designers (Momi Concept and Zulu), we created a cozy corner to showcase our products while giving you an actual feel of how they would look in your home. Hands, Heritage & Homes After a lot of work and setting up, we were finally ready for a grand opening to celebrate this milestone! Along with Arkan we had a lovely opening event, Hands, Heritage & Homes, to celebrate the grand opening of Kiliim and Ellie Home, two brands working on reviving local handcrafts. We started out the day with a lot of support from our clients helping each one choose a new piece to add to their home. We even got to catch up with a lot of family and friends too! Then we celebrated with delicious food, coffee, and angelic live music. And to spread the love for the craft, we gave free weaving workshops all day. It was a looong day but it definitely ended on a good note! Again, we’d love to thank everyone who came and made it a day to remember and cherish! And special thanks to Plenty Deli, Specialty Bun, Cocoa, and Farida el Gueretly for the lovely food and ambience they created. Love, The Kiliim Team
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By Noha El Taher, Co-Founder, Kiliim Five years after the launch of our brand, we've been inspired by the artisans we've worked with and the power our collaboration has over improving their living standards and sustaining crafts from our cultural heritage. This led us to reflect on who we are and what we will aim to work on in the future. This past year we've been working on two major changes, one of which is our visual identity. Our previous logo and identity was very telling of who Kiliim was when we launched, it was a company of just two people and a handful of craftsmen. I was the co-founder responsible for designing our brand and also designing our products, even though I was a graphic designer who had experience designing either on print or digital media, I was assigned to design a material and product I didn't quite understand and didn't have experience with. This reflected in our logo and branding visuals, it was flat and digital, bold, sharp and trendy. Yet, five years later, we've grown and got to know ourselves, the craft, and the artisans better, so we came up with an identity that reflected this progress. Our new identity is imperfect and worn, it's simple and humble. It is true to who we are, the artisans we work with, and the products we make. Alongside, we've updated our website and packaging for a thoughtful and seamless shopping experience. The other result of our reflection was that we were intrigued by the impact we've done in Fowa for the kilim weavers, as we continue our work there, we could only image the potential this kind of collaboration would have on other crafts around the country. This led us to launch 'Curated by Kiliim', it is a line of handpicked, handmade home decor items sourced from craft communities across the country. These products from Qena to Fayoum to Luxor tell stories from our cultural heritage that we'll be sharing with you here through the upcoming weeks. So welcome to the new Kiliim, take a look around and tell us what you think!
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Fowa used to be a central hub for trade; pictured here is Raba' El Khatayba built in the 19th Century. Being one of Fowa's landmarks & biggest historical trade venues, it was used as a guest house for traders passing by the city as well as a marketplace to store and display the goods. #KiliimStories
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