in with a huge budget employ local talent and support young creators who can put egypt on the global fashion mapiman eldeeb whose agency cast two egyptian models for saturdays show told afp it was a longawaited step for the fashion world in egyptegypts luxury goods sector has grown despite years of economic turmoil that saw the pound lose half its value in a 2016 currency devaluationdespite the downturn egypt the arab worlds most populous country is home to 86000 millionaires according to the bank credit suissethe richest one percent are enough to create demand said public relations specialist ingy ismail who advises luxury brandsthe boutiques in the shopping centres of cairos chic new satellite cities she said are up to the standards of international luxury brandsmodels present creations by french fashion house dior during the presentation of its mens prefall 2023 collection in front of the pyramids in giza on the outskirts of cairo egypt december 3 2022 reutersdina sakryoung creative talentegypts bubble of super rich has helped create a homegrown fashion design scene whose pioneers have recently ventured onto the catwalks of milan and parisat this years paris fashion week cairobased luxury brand okhtein showed a resinmade bustier that evoked egyptian alabaster at french fashion house balmains showit was a rare success story for egypts creative sector where most people are selftaught working hard with scarce resources to try and meet international standards said othman the photographerismail said the countrys luxury clothing and jewellery market has gone from under 100 egyptian brands to more than 1000 today fuelled by a huge pool of young creative talentinternational events offer rare exposure but getting them to the country is still a challengeit is a big step for the government to authorise art degypte and dior to organise events at the foot of the pyramids the art shows curator nadine abdel ghaffar told afpred tape and tight restrictions can still get in the way she suggested conceding that the legislative framework is complicatedtimeless marvelsbut promoting the countrys culture must be a priority added abdel ghaffar who believes a dedicated government body could better promote exhibitions concerts shows and even film productionthe giza pyramids remain popular for more traditional tourism too here people ride in a horsedrawn cart past the ancient egyptian king khufus great pyramidshehab the art historian said many realise that egypt known for its timeless architectural marvels in the desert needs to project an updated image of itselftheres more and more awareness about the need for soft power and for culture as a representation for the country she said cautioning however that egypt still requires better infrastructure to make this happenshe even dared dream that egypt could draw in hollywood productions if it only starts granting permitswe have lost count of the number of international productions that have resorted to shooting in morocco jordan or saudi arabia she saidthe latest egyptthemed production was a disney tv miniseries marvel comics moon knight for which two entire cairo city blocks were