Tall, with sweeping brunette locks, large almond eyes, and tailored clothes accented with the flash of a metal bag or an exotic-skin boot, Giovanina Attieh, Nathalie Mroue, and Maria Muñoz definitely don’t come across as mumsy, even though all are either mothers or a mom-to-be. Fashion PRs may be on their calling card but, in fact, the thirty-something women are ambitious entrepreneurs and among the region’s greatest champions of homegrown fashion – and they are making an international mark. At the last Paris fashion week, they joined with Coveteur for the NYC-based digital media platform’s first collaborative event, which was attended by Manuel Arnaut along with head of Vogue talents, Sara Maino, Bloomingdale’s US fashion director, Erica Russo, Net-a-Porter buying director of non-apparel, Nayla Touma, and Beyoncé stylist Zerina Akers.
Originally published in the January 2019 issue of Vogue Arabia
Giovanina Attieh, Nathalie Mroue, and Maria Muñoz. Photo: Mohsen Othman
Having amassed their years of experience across the fashion industry to elevate regional brands to global status – and considering their former industry experience includes work at such female-focused brands as Chloé, Stella McCartney, Azzedine Alaïa, Elie Saab, and Alexander McQueen – suffice to say the women are attuned to the needs and wants of the contemporary, jet-setting, fashion-savvy client. Their business, Maison Pyramide, launched in 2016 and serves as a creative incubator of sorts for some 40 talents, including bag brand Okhtein, fine jewelry brand L’Atelier Nawbar, and handcrafted shoe band Zyne.
Aiding brands to establish a memorable identity is key. Building hype today can be as important to a label as the product it’s selling. Attieh, who is described by her co-founders as ambitious, focused, and creative, explains, “We’ve created a name for the space in the digital realm through e-marketing campaigns. We also constantly conduct creative collaborations during fashion weeks to ensure activity around the showroom and its brands.”
Photo: Mohsen Othman
Muñoz, the patient, empathetic co-founder of the trio, comments, “The fashion ecosystem needs support from the private sector and the government in order to grow and consolidate. It’s true that we have seen increasing involvement, but still, nothing close to comparison with other countries.”
As for upcoming challenges, Mroue, ever the charismatic strategist, reveals that the platform hopes to offer a business-to-consumer program; one that proves that the Egyptian HQ is not a limitation but rather propels them from Arabia to the world. “This has been our goal from the beginning,” she states. “It’s in the making as we test potential markets through a series of pop-ups.” The first launched in Sahel, Egypt with another most recently in Beirut. Maisonpyramide.com
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