
By Salma Magdi
- GOZOOR is the Arabic word for ‘Roots’ that define who we are and where we belong. To move forward, one has to get in touch with their true identity. With Egypt, this matter cannot be questioned as civilization goes back thousands of years ago. The project of GOZOOR is devoted to cultural development besides being preoccupied with ethnic garments as a mirror image of authentic roots and is on its way to becoming a brand name making a whole new fashion. After all, clothes make the man. I talked with Mohamad Nassar. GOZOOR Cultural Development Founder and he told me all about it.
- How did you deal with the ideal mess I saw in the Woes of Egypt (mm the fashion view evoked the idea and I was thinking about altering this type of culture prevailing in our country. which is no cry candy and wry unappealing. so, I thought about making a movie that is partially projected 6or rotting warms and at use same time alarming people about garnscnt being a soli image; curry touch and color a test Is a relation of who you are and has a =maw to Miter. Other cultures got mixed with ours and that makes me wonder why 100-year-old Ovulations or even less take us two and font their way into our cubism It is ten thousand years old and more. The issue escalated as a math of ignorance that led to the distortion of fashion to change a ruined culture. One hex to keep in mind is that culture Includes food.: Lobo. musk. and films sea I am spooking about odium In the Mood some. not as intellectual with knowledge so kt I is more protest? the promo is both cultural and commercial. ho, key in our prohnn h a dom. mortar/ tilled Republic of Egypt —not Arabic &public of Egypt —. obis name Is degrading to Egypt; it is not only Pharaonic. Grads and Roman. Islamic. Arabk. Coptic. African; it Is all together. It is a group of films presenting a story about the turning points Egypt has gone through. 100 years ago Those were various eras In the history of Egypt that we must carefully study and ponder Vee used to be number one in fashion to the cotter that the lanai vogue was released In Egypt (adore Parks Unkounady we have been wilting visual pollution daring from the 20s. NricuLuly. till today. So this film was the lita Ouse interim project and then commix school to loch ample. but net km sewing and knitting. because It is more attached to the future than fashion. it is basically 80%mounto and somehow linked to fashion for <omowitial purposes. We are working on the palette of the ones we have in Egypt: Siwa Oasis. Arish. lldaibs coasts. lksha…etc.
- way Rau loose putout of skovos in • Calablya (traditional Egyptian gar. melt) biome narrower as run mate from the Upper Light towards Delta Is an Indicator of cultural transformation. We dross according to the geographical impact of our environment. Somehow deserts and mountains but we are ditTor. eat; we have got watt. Gerry. and fine weather so it does not make sense to dim according to the geographical conditions of another country. for risk. you can tell that one is African by the way first colorful clothes that do not absorb heat like black color. It is difficult though to distinguish an Egyptian by the looks of the outfit.} tubas used to wear the lee (tarboosh) and adjust it in duiker positions to make subtle references his °Won that garment acts as a tool for mooing bodies or protection ogling cold weather and later developed to booms exposure of the social stuns…ulnae. and so on. As • c hired come. try we should not surrender to the brainwashing by other cultures Can there he an Egyptian uniformed. Stu Inc? From my point of view. it cannot be on account of what I have saki author about Egypt having more than one outfit. For =ample. referring to the Nubian wear the national Egyptian costume will not work out. lholr weather conditions di1. kr from Ikta. The same also goes for Alexandria and Aswan. ibis is the norm in all countries. All the diverse components form an Egyptian clunker with no individual sole root.
- I am Cairo
- 1 taw can you connect graph.sn roots sit), conlenvorAry style. The type of fashion we are creating has to match musks° Day without being merely display showcases and exhibits. h should wordily cope with the current time so that pm could be dressed in clouds allowing you to go to school

Do you get inspiration from someone to take your project further? We do not have inspiration in Egypt in agreement with what was mentioned earlier. We want to be the inspiration and the idol in this area. When taking a look over the fashion schools and academies, it turns out that most of them take up European fashion, like Italian and French, or worldwide fashion in general. Gozoor is the first fashion school in Egypt and the Middle East; we are the only entity to work in this field. That is why as pioneers, we give a fine impression abroad as our work is appreciated.
What do your workshops and courses offer? Everything we offer has Egyptian roots. There are courses in Nuba, Siwa, Bedouin costumes, and jewelry. Other courses are related to branding and styling. Deals were made with factories to produce the Gozoor brand name. Those designs are made to attract people’s attention and become a trend. Promoting the Gozoor products is not just through the film but several small defiles are presenting the works by our school graduates and also there is a great event in and outside Egypt known as Gozoor fashion week. In addition to that, trainees are recruited to later on work in the fashion industry. Our styling courses are designated for the media, cinema, theater, advertisements, and TV. In photo styling, you are taught how to dress a model in cooperation with the photographer so that the concept of the photo is in agreement with the model’s facial features and outfit. Another course is film and TV styling, which provides costume design tutorials to meet the period dress may require; in this scope, a certain abidance by the codes of time and character is required so there is no room for innovation. Phase two is the professional diploma, which has a different system. Those courses are not just theoretical but they are practical as well. The strategy is to geographically point out what areas to extract roots from, on Egypt’s map, then stay at those places like Siwa and Sinai for a while to learn all about culture, fabric, and environment.
What was the response by people when they knew about the project and how did they react seeing you dressed in clothes made by Gozoor? We got a lot of feedback from people abroad than in Egypt. It was great. Egyp-tians were amazed by the idea too but somehow connected it with Galabiya. Once, I was going to the opera house and I intentionally came in casual attire, but they have a dress code to enter in jacket and tie, so at the end, I had to follow the policy of this place that is in my country. My technique is to find a way to speak a language that is easily understood. For example, one of our designers would make a simple plain shirt but would add Bedouin elements to its collars and sleeves.
Do you use certain materials, fabrics, and textures in your designs? That depends on the designer but there is no specification for the materials we use. Such a thing is not initially planned but it is left to the designer to decide. The designer would use the aforementioned culture palette and go from there with innovation.
I am Cairo. How can anyone get involved in your project? We have a volunteer program, which you can learn more about through our website. It starts with a simple contract with the volunteer who has to be committed and hand in work in due time. Anyone can choose one category or more and then apply through the Gozoor website.
What are the qualifications a fashion designer should have? Designing is a vast world. To become a fashion designer, you need to be aware of what you are after. Some are innately talented; others enhance their desire to become successful designers through learning. It all depends on which path you choose. A designer may excel in one criterion but lack skills in another. For example, you might be a good designer who cannot sew or make patterns, and that is ok; each one has a specialty. Do you see a lot of talent and potential out there among fashion design career seekers? Of course, I do. People who come to us are of different types: those who want to adopt fashion design but are unable to decide where to start and others who have prior knowledge and are deeply interested in what we do regarding Egyptian fashion. So this is where our great team of professionals offers a menu to help and guide you, and eventually, you get to choose where to go from there.
Which era would you like to go back to, clothing-wise? Each period in history has cons and pros, even during the Middle Ages and wars, poets and artists would rise. I cannot say that there is an era that I prefer but maybe I am a bit leaning towards the Pharaonic period, the 20s in particular, and the 30s. I would not wish to go back there though, because we lacked costume identity. The Pharaonic period is special due to its peace, civilization, and being the pioneers and inventors of makeup lines and clothes.
What is next? We are willing to collaborate with those working on the same page. It is also planned to start with a couple of events in Egypt because of its essence as a genetic map of the world throughout history and when well-established, we will deal with different cultures abroad. There are also international workshops and by that, I mean having designers coming from a different background and cultures who can pitch in with experience like the Chinese whose civilization is as great as the pharos, or the Japanese who still preserve their ethnic costume em-bodied in the utterly distinctive Kimono.
gozoorcaravan@gmail.com
Thanks a lot
September 1, 2024