Okhtein Co-Founders Mounaz and Aya Abdelraouf On Fighting Stereotypes, Family Secret Sauce and Stepping Into The Spotlight
As the sisters prepare to embark on a new journey, they share their story with Bazaar Arabia…
There’s no stronger force to be reckoned with than a pair of sisters on a mission, ones who take pride in their heritage, take charge of their story and embrace change with an innovative spirit. Mounaz and Aya Abdelraouf, co-founders and creative directors of Egyptian accessories brand Okhtein – loved by the likes of Beyoncé, Alessandra Ambrosio and Winnie Harlow – have been at the helm of their brand for almost a decade, but the pair exude a vibrant energy similar to start-up leaders on a mission to take it to the next level.
“Okhtein is not just an accessory brand. It’s a very, very strong underlying message. It empowers women because it is a modern representation of an Arab woman,” Mounaz says, speaking with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. “Not only does it break global stereotypes of what an Arab woman is capable of doing or what she can do but it also is a representation of our style, our aesthetic, our heritage and our culture.”
Growing up together, the sister-duo fell into a habit of teaming up together to tackle tasks as pair – something that would soon spill over into their professional life.
“Since we were kids, we would always work on stuff together. Whether it’s school projects, fun projects, so we knew back then that we would be a good team,” Mounaz recounts. “In university, when we definitely started something together, we made it work. I could start something she could finish it and vice versa. I wouldn’t finish a painting unless Aya was sitting next to me. She’s like my muse.”
“There’s always been creative synergy ever since we were like kids,” she says. But soon, the pair needed more help which would, again, come in the form of a trusted family member.
“The business started growing, and we have our little genius of a brother who was actually already settled in his own career at the bank – banking and private equity. And he just saw us like drowning. He was like, ‘Let me help you.’” With their brother, Muhammad’s, expertise (the secret sauce in Okhtein’s recipe for success) the sisters relieved themselves of the day-to-day strain of running a business and could focus on the important aspect of dreaming up new ideas for the brand.
“Managing a team was a bit hard for us creatives. So it was kind of all over the place, and then he jumped in. We were – we are – so blessed,” she says. “He gave us structure. He hired the right people. He did the retail strategy. He was the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Fast forward a few years. Having been profiled in the likes of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Women’s Wear Daily and Forbes and after multiple red carpet appearances, Mounaz and Aya are ready to embark on a new chapter.
“For the past 12 months, we’ve been working super hard,” Mounaz says, noting how the team has changed courses across a variety of aspects (although she’s still quite tight-lipped on what we can expect to see in the coming months). “Let’s say it’s like a revamp of sorts. We wanted to build a stronger infrastructure than we had. We are shifting everything to Italy, the production… and it also gave us time for Aya and I to reconnect again, to focus on the design and the brand message.”
Think more along the lines of a new dawn than a full-out rebranding. “You’ll get to see this revamp what we’re talking about very soon,” she notes. “The design of the bags, the quantity, it’s a major uplift – right down to the marketing strategy. We’re launching very exciting new stuff. So we’re not allowed to say at the moment. But it will be an exciting new product line.”
While the design will still remain true to Okhtein’s heritage, moving forward the collections will be fabricated between Italy and Spain – a decision that is as practical as it is sustainable. “We used to import leather from Italy, hardware from Spain. So it didn’t really make a lot of sense [to produce the bags in Egypt] it made sense just to produce everything there,” she says.
While a lot has changed since the sisters launched the brand back in 2014, it’s tough to profile them without looking back at their success stories – and there are lots of them. So, what’s been the biggest highlight of their journey as Okhtein founders to date?
“Aya and I were just discussing this last night with friends,” Mounaz says. “We definitely witnessed a jump from being a local brand only known in Egypt to having a more regional presence, and then an international one – which happened in 2017. So, the highlight was the jump for us when we started getting approached by retailers like Browns and Farfetch. That gave us this international recognition,” she says, adding the winning of prestigious awards to also have been a career highlight.
While the sisters continue to remain hands on in all of the creative processes pertaining the brand — right down to the backstory and casting of their photoshoots — they’re now finding themselves in the spotlight, modeling in their own campaigns and sharing their personalities with the world. “Last year, we opened up our Instagram accounts [to the public]… for years, we tried to stay private, tried to find an ‘Okhtein girl’ — but at the end of the day it can’t get more Okhtein than the both of us,” Mounaz says.
With change afoot (but still very much under wraps), there’s an air of excitement around the sisters as they brace themselves for Chapter 2.0 in Okhtein’s story — and quietly plot industry domination, one meticulously crafted handbag at a time…
Interview by Imogene Legrand. Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@okhtein
