Nevin Altmann as a brand started organically. While in Siwa, my mother realized that the beautiful traditional craft of embroidery was slowly dying and she met with four women to help revive it. They embroidered some beautiful pieces that she incorporated into modern styles for ladies.
Each woman brought a family member, a friend or, a neighbour to learn this craft and earn money by making beautiful handmade pieces. Slowly, this network of women grew to 400 women all over Egypt from Aswan, Upper Egypt, Nile Valley, Greater Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Siwa, Sinai, and Marsa Matruh.
It became our mission to help empower women to become independent; creating beautiful works of art and earning money at their own pace from their own homes.
When the coronavirus lockdown started happening, we decided not to shut down this production because these women already work from their own homes. More importantly, for some, this is their main source of income and we did not want to cut it off.
We maintained production despite shutting down our stores for a month. But now we have reopened and we are working on innovative ways to keep the business going.
We have reopened the stores every day from 9 am - 4 pm.
In the stores, we are taking safety precautions. We have strict hygiene standards, in general, and have upped them to a maximum in this time. We also only allow two customers into the store at a time.
We have also created a booking system so people can book an appointment to visit the store:
The 3 ways to get your Nevin Altmann works of art from the comfort of your own home are:
1. Our latest innovation is to bring the store to your home.How it works:
📱 Video call or text one of our branches on Viber or WhatsApp and pick the items you would like to see
Zamalek: 01211197337
Maadi: 01275994566
🛍️ We will come to you with your chosen collection
🏠 Purchase your favorite items from the comfort of your home
2. You can still order from our website. We are also working on updating it to show our full product line.Mother’s Day is a very special day for us here at Nevin Altmann. Part of the reason is that we are a mother/daughter team.
My mother, Nevin, started this business 30 years ago because of her passion for traditional Egyptian embroidery. She realized that the tradition of craftsmanship was being lost and forgotten. She joined up with women from Siwa first, helping them become independent wage earners. Now, there is a network of women from all over the country making traditional regional embroidery that is then incorporated into contemporary women’s accessories.
Nine years ago, after finishing my university studies, I wanted to become involved in this family business. In 2011, I opened a store selling my mother’s handmade products and branded the store under her name. We have been growing together since then. My mother is the designer and I am the entrepreneur.
As a mother/daughter team, part of our mission is to empower Egyptian women to be independent and able to support their families. So, we know the importance of this holiday and we want to help you show your appreciation for the awesome women in your life.
Remember that each of our unique pieces is hand embroidered and one of a kind. You can show your mom how unique you think she is with one of these 10 gift ideas.
OR
Get her a gift card and bring her to one of our stores on Mother’s Day! Let her choose for herself and get styling advice from us in person from our expert staff.
You can also call us, contact us on Instagram, Facebook, or Whatsapp if you need any help.
Instagram: @nevinaltmann
Facebook: Nevin Altmann
Zamalek - 01211197337
Maadi - 01275994566
Gouna - 01220077939
I am Hannah, Nevin's niece.
I'm currently studying Journalism at the American University in Cairo and decided to base one of my projects on the brand "Nevin Altmann" and how it started. In particular, for an audio production class.
And I recently started working with my cousin Tamara, the shop owner of "Nevin Altmann". It's fun to be part of this team :)
In this documentary I interviewed my aunt Nevin, her daughter Tamara and my father Nihad, who is Nevin's brother.
This is how it started: A few months ago I stumbled upon the story of how Nevin started creating dolls. Her daughter Tamara was explaining it to me, and a couple of clients at the shop in Zamalek. So it triggered my attention.
This documentary sheds light on a new and personal aspect of how it all started and how Nevin's passion for tradition evolved.
You can listen to it here!
]]>We had a lot of fun and want to share some of our moments with you:
This was our stand.
Shimaa, our shop manager was looking pretty while being in control of everything.
Eman was very shy :)
Our mannequin Folla (she has a name), was there as usual. We NEVER leave her behind!
Hannah was busy, too. (Yes, Folla changes outfits several times during our events)
During the day we saw a lot of our friends and family and we also got to meet lovely people.
Nevin was sitting with our friend Amira...
... and then she hung out with me :)
Nihad (Nevin's brother) was promoting our weekend bag.
This is an inspiring young woman :) She read our blog and came looking for us at the event today.
Madonna, I am flattered by what you said about Nevin Altmann and am very happy that I got to know you.
(P.S.: You have wonderful friends and I hope you like the gift they bought you) :-)
And this is how we wrap our gifts this season! :)
If you missed being part of this event, don't worry. We have another one coming up on the 13th of December at the Fishgarden in Zamalek, Cairo.
Thank you for being part of this!
]]>When it was time to go again, she gave me the doll and told me: “There you go, this is Nevin, now you have me with you. Enjoy your time with your friends!" I had a fun day and night with my new doll, but when the time came to be with my mother again, I had another issue: “Nevin was a bit lonely!” I said. “She needs a friend!” So my wonderful mother created her second doll whom I named “Semsem” (Translation: Sesame). And from there, little Nevin started having more and more friends, until -25 years later- we had a huge group of dolls!
"Nevin" the first doll!
Not only is my mother incredibly creative, but she is also adventurous. So, when I was still very young, she drove us to Siwa (Oasis in the western desert of Egypt) in her Toyota pick up truck and we would stay there for months at a time. Some of my first friends were Siwi children and we spent a lot of time in the fields and running around, while Nevin got to know their lovely mothers.
The Siwi women showed her the hand embroidery their mothers used to make and told her that they were embroidering less and less. It was getting easier to buy ready made and decorated products from Marsa Matrouh (the closest city to Siwa). Nevin encouraged them to keep making the embroidery with the promise, that she would then buy their work. She asked the mothers and grandmothers to teach the younger generation how to keep their culture alive.
She bought many pieces of embroidered fabric from the women, and transformed them into desirable and unique products for the women of Cairo. She made cushions, bags and some of the embroidery was used to dress little Siwi dolls in traditional attire from Siwa.
Picture of my mother and I. Making tea in the desert on our way to Siwa.
This wonderful mother of mine didn’t just stop after she explored Siwa, but she travelled to upper Egypt, other Oasis along the way, north of Egypt and Sinai. She met women there who have their own traditional embroidery and got to know Bedouins and locals.
Today, I am a co-owner of Nevin Altmann (the company) and I feel very privileged to be part of this creative journey.
We work with about 300 women who do their crafts from the comfort of their home and at their own pace. We get to travel a lot around Egypt and thanks to the incredible people we work with, we feel at home everywhere.
Our products have become a blend of modern fashion and tradition. We hope you like it!
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