For Noha El-Ebeidi and Ahmed Youssri of Serat Home Décor, Ramadan is a peak season for both creativity and business. The founders of the nearly 15-year-old design house ensure each Ramadan collection blends tradition with modernity, from cheerful prayer rugs and outfits to sofa spreads and mini banquette covers.
They focus on how colours and designs come together to create a contemporary interpretation of Islamic and Arab art, drawing on multiple layers of Egyptian culture, including Old Egypt and the Coptic era.
“A table spread for Ramadan does not need specific or obvious Ramadan motifs,” El-Ebeidi said. “A combination of floral patterns in blue and red is enough. We may include some direct Ramadan designs, but not across the whole collection.”
Youssri added that the goal is to create home décor that can be used beyond Ramadan. “Items bought for Ramadan can also suit other holidays, weekend family gatherings, or everyday use,” he said.
This concept of producing contemporary Arab and Islamic items without erasing the many influences of Egypt’s diverse culture led the couple, who are a computer science engineer and a graphic designer, to found Serat, because they struggled to find home décor items that matched both their aesthetic preferences and quality expectations.
Serat, meaning “a straightforward path,” was the name they chose and had calligraphed in a simple yet distinctive Arabic font. Around 15 years later, Serat produces mainly imprinted fabric home décor items suitable for every season, with Ramadan ranking second only to Christmas in demand.
“We plan our collections quarterly to cover Mother’s Day, summer, Christmas, Ramadan, and other peak seasons,” El-Ebeidi said, noting that Ramadan gradually shifts closer to winter each year.
The best-selling Ramadan items, she added, are fabric boxes with matching patterns and multiple uses, such as table runners or sofa spreads. “The idea is to offer items people can adapt, especially since fabric boxes are often bought as gifts,” she said.
Youssri noted that Serat’s core customer base shops mainly online. “Around two-thirds of our sales are online, which is why we initially opened a store in Heliopolis and later decided to operate online only,” he said. Eventually, Serat reopened a showroom in Tagammua to serve customers who prefer in-store shopping, particularly for higher-end selections.
Hanan Temraz, founder and manager of Shwar (a bride’s trousseau), oversees the meticulous packaging of her pottery accessories and tableware, including cups, soup and salad bowls, coffee brewers, teapots, lanterns, and incense burners. “Most of our sales ahead of Ramadan, and in other seasons, come from online orders,” Temraz said.
She explained that online clients receive a video of their selected items to ensure they match expectations. “The hardest part comes next: wrapping and delivery to make sure everything arrives safely,” she said.
Colourful pottery tableware, Temraz noted, has been popular for over a decade, particularly during Ramadan. She traced the trend back to the first currency devaluation in 2016, which made imported porcelain either unavailable or too expensive for many, particularly within the upper middle class. The market expanded significantly once locally produced items improved in design and material quality.
Today, Shwar sells online and in-store while also producing bulk orders for companies offering Ramadan and Christmas gifts to employees and clients. The brand supplies restaurants, cafés, concept stores, and supermarkets carrying tableware essentials.
With a background in business and a strong passion for art, Temraz founded Shwar in 2012 as a small enterprise reflecting her interests and marking her entry into the business world years after graduation. “As a wife and mother who values creating a pleasant home setting, and as someone passionate about art, I knew tableware was essential, which is why I chose the name Shwar,” she said.
Creating her first collection was as demanding as developing this year’s Ramadan offering. “As coloured pottery becomes more common, it becomes more challenging to introduce innovative styles, which is as crucial as producing high-quality items,” she said.
“The goal is not simply to produce a soup bowl or a set of coffee cups, but to create pieces with designs, patterns, and colours that carry positive energy,” she added, stressing the importance of carefully selecting colour palettes.
To avoid predictability in a crowded market, Temraz developed a concept inspired by Egyptian civilization, “without being cliché, because that becomes immediately uninviting.” Shwar adheres to a colour palette reflecting Egypt’s layered heritage, including Arab-Islamic, Coptic, Nubian, and Old Egypt influences.
For the Grand Egyptian Museum opening last November, Temraz deliberately avoided obvious references. “I wanted to convey the core Egyptian vibe through colours and generic patterns,” she said.
Having experimented with almost every form of drawing, Temraz acknowledged the challenges of pottery work. “It is not easy to draw on pottery, even when using white and red clay to prevent excessive colour absorption,” she said.
While the coloured pottery market continues to grow, driven by broader appreciation and economic pressures making porcelain expensive, Temraz expressed concern over the sector’s declining human resources. Skilled and committed labour is increasingly difficult to find and retain.
Mohamed Zaki of House of Tiles, which produces coloured and painted ceramic tiles for various uses, said preserving skill-based crafts requires attracting people with genuine passion.
Zaki left a career in software engineering to pursue his interest in tile art. He started his business alone with a limited budget. It has since grown to a team of 10, mostly university graduates without formal art training but driven by enthusiasm rather than relying on traditional labourers, who may lack commitment or find the craft financially unrewarding.
“It takes hours of concentration to produce a set of tiles assembled into a Quranic verse, for example, which is a popular Ramadan gift,” Zaki said. Profit margins and, consequently, wages may not always match the high costs of importing quality tiles and pigments. “That is why passion is essential,” he added.
Over the past five years, House of Tiles has produced thousands of painted tiles used in mirror frames, trays, coasters, and house signs. More recently, the brand has reached foreign markets through online orders and traders.
“I think painted and coloured tiles, which serve multiple functions, have become a popular Ramadan gift, not only in Egypt but also in some Arab countries,” Zaki said.
Although Ramadan represents a peak sales season, Zaki, like the founders of Serat and Shwar, believes that coloured tiles, mugs, and imprinted fabrics have become an integral part of the Ramadan atmosphere.
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