Malaika

Malaika was founded in 2004 by Margarita Andrade and Goya Gallagher who, after growing up in their native Ecuador, found themselves living and settling in Egypt. With a background in design and a keen interest in embroidery, crochet and handdrawn thread work, they decided to utilise Egyptian cotton to produce high quality bed linen, previously not available in the local market. At the heart of its business model, Malaika focuses on teaching hand embroidery to local women, giving them a chance to learn a valuable skill and improve their economic standing. Today, dozens of underprivileged Egyptian women and refugees travel to Malaika’s self-funded embroidery school to learn embroidery techniques. Once proficient, the women leave the school and return to work from home, making way for more women to be trained there. This model empowers women to take charge of their economic futures without breaking social norms.