Afar, it is a pretty dress. Getting closer, it is much more. Her designs are plentiful in colors, and culture, you can’t but feel amazed. Dina Zayan, who is a top graduate of Electrical Engineering from the British University in Egypt and a Bachelor’s degree holder from ES-MOD private fashion school in Paris, has started telling stories of Egyptian Cities through her fashion illustrations. Combining both her passion for sketching and a will of iron to pursue her new-found career in fashion designing, Dina tells us all about it from start to yet another beginning. Colorfully sketched, representing the essence of every city, Dina selected a number of cities and got exposed to as many problems as she could.
This helped her show the women of each city and their special features through the dresses, featuring those in the furthest areas like Siwa and Nubia .”If we are going to empower er each other, let’s unite all over the country, no matter what your skin color, your language, your mentality is!” expresses Dina.
Right after graduation, Dina pursued her MA in Information Technology and Project Management. Her passion for The ” Arabian Desert” Dress inspired by Siwa
design direction all began with a love for drawing and desire to bridge the gap between what people want and what they get.
“When you imagine yourself in a certain dress, you want that design in your head, but, unfortunately, it is hard to find,” Dina says.
Sketching ideas for design got her first client, a girl who wanted a customized design for her engagement dress. Dina was over the moon for fulfilling the bride’s idea in mind, and how it resonated on social media.
One thing led to another and Dina felt that leaving engineering and dedicating all her time for fashion designing was in order.
Believing that identity stands out through clothing styles, Dina decided to venture into the depth of Egyptian cities to get stories that she translates into elegant and outstanding illustrations for dresses through her project A Tale of Hidden Queens. “I felt like I needed to do something to support each other. Women here have a lot of fights that women outside Egypt don’t face, even in the way they think, the way they behave, and the way they dress,” Dina adds.
Being an engineering student at some point, Dina experienced some of this discrimination just for being a female among-st an entire male batch. “When a professor would ask a question that I’m the only one who knew the answer to, he would talk sarcastically to the rest saying ‘don’t we have a man to answer?’
Fast-forwarding to her aspirations following the collection, Dina wants to collaborate with people who have unique artistry in Egypt, like the people in Siwa for their amazing embroidery.
Hoping to continue supporting women, Dina hopes to have a production line dedicated to supporting women professionally and emotionally – not just economically – through establishing a foundation made for that cause. She hopes to provide a brand that women can identify with. “I want to speak about each and every city and its women through Fashion,” Dina points out.
If we are going to empower each other, let’s unite all over the country, no matter what your skin color, your language, your mentality is.
