Okhtein Urges Everyone to Stop Supporting Fashion Design Piracy
When the two sisters Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf joined forces a couple of years back, they gave birth to Okhtein, a designer handbag brand inspired by the historical wonders of Old Cairo, that now comfortably sits on top of the Iron Throne of handbags.
Their signature and cutting-edge designs have soon become celebrity favorites (from Harry Potter actress Emma Watson to reality TV star Kris Jenner) to the point that they’re everywhere you look on Instagram. Which is why it saddened us when we came across this post by one of Okhtein’s co-founders.
“China has been making copies of our bags (flattering and all), but the worst part of is that Egyptians are buying it from these Chinese websites,” Mounaz writes on her Facebook status. “This is the fatal problem with Egyptians, instead of helping their economy out and supporting their local designers, they support and fund this Chinese virus.”
Mounaz continues to urge Egyptians to stop supporting piracy. “Dear Egyptians, you should know better. Instead of supporting such piracy, you should be stopping it. Don’t buy fake Egyptian products just because they are out of stock or not affordable,” she stresses.
She ends her post by pleading for Egyptians to come together and put an end to that ugly virus. “If you know any Egyptian who illegally owns a shopping Instagram account like “Shop Hop Yalla Beena” and crazy tacky names as such, post this on their Facebook pages and Instagram accounts. Please help me stop this ugly virus. THIS IS WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!”
