Founded in 1991 by Naguiba Meyassar, Alef Gallery is a true passion project that reflects its owner’s love for Egyptian craft and history. Naguiba and her daughter, Loulia, work with local artisans to create fabrics, furniture and decorative objects that celebrate their country’s rich cultural heritage. Among the many rooms in their Zamalek gallery, antique chandeliers and settees mixed with enormous painted trays and panels. One room is dedicated to hand-screened fabrics made of different cotton fabrics—from sheer panels perfect for lightweight curtains to heavier weaves for furniture upholstery. The family works with interior designers on custom colors and patterns and ships internationally.

This jewelry store in the Grand Egyptian Museum is a treasure trove of premium silver in an array of styles, from contemporary to bohemian and Egyptian-themed. There is an amazing selection of unique pieces—rings, earrings, bracelets, silverware, and more. Part of the fun is digging to find that one-of-a-kind keepsake.

While many of the shops in the Khan Khalili bazaar sell tourist souvenirs, fabrics, and items made in China, not Egypt, Atlas Jewels, which has been in the bazaar since 1948, is a standout. The shop has cases of gold pendants and amulets from lapis lazuli scarabs and gold cartouches. Although most of their pieces are Egyptian-made, the owner occasionally carries some vintage pieces from Turkey. Prices will vary depending on the fluctuations in gold.

On the island of Zamalek Fair Trade Egypt is an organization that works toward empowering marginalized Egyptian artists and producers—who create traditional handicrafts and products rooted in Egyptian heritage—by providing them with export opportunities to access international markets through fair trade conditions. Currently, the organization partners with 43 national artisan groups of over 2,000 people, 90 percent of whom are women.

The place to go in Aswan for textiles.

The Konouz brand was started to ensure that souvenirs were not only made in Egypt but also authentic replicas of pharaonic and Islamic items, certified as such by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Most of the major tourist sites in Egypt carry the brand—everything from typical tourist items like gift pouches, scarves, and marquetry backgammon boards to replicas of King Tut’s sarcophagus and throne.

The name of this Cairo concept on Zamalek is the pharaonic word for people, and it pays homage to the owner’s mission to promote products that are handmade and sourced directly from the makers. The branches in Cairo and Luxor (at Al Moudira hotel) stock beautiful ceramics from Fayoum, textiles from Malaika, as well as vintage textiles and cushions, hand-blown glass items, alabaster pieces, and fun finds like ikat sun hats and suzanis as well as delicate jewelry lines and fine Egyptian cotton bathrobes and kaftans.

The flagship store opened by Goya Gallagher in the 1990s carries a great range of bed and table linens as well as fine glassware and ceramics from Fayoum. You will find beautiful tablecloths with hand-stitched detailing, linen napkins with palm leaf and animal embroidery and Egyptian linen sheet sets. (Just be aware that Egyptian sheet sizes are smaller than the standard US ones, so compare the centimeters to what you have at home.) Malaika also makes lovely knit bathrobes, cotton tote bags, and pouches with Egyptian motifs like scarabs, camels and baboons, which make great presents.

Central to Malaika’s business model is Threads of Hope, a tuition-free embroidery training program open to all Egyptian women and refugees. The program empowers local women by teaching them the art of embroidery, providing them with skills, economic opportunities, and a haven of safety, community and friendship. Threads of Hope recently added a nursery so the trainees may bring their children while they complete the two-month program, after which they can work from home while caring for their families.

Locals say that this two-room shop, crammed with traditional local crafts and ceramics, is their one-stop shop for souk items without traveling to the chaos of the souk itself. Items range from simple ceramics and pottery to brass items, Islamic tiles, iron lanterns, small paintings, and jewelry.

This sleek shop facing the Nile carries stylish accessories and fashions from around the region. You’ll find hand-embroidered bags from Sarah’s Bag in Lebanon as well as beautiful embroidered scarves and abayas. Cases of jewelry from regional artists mix with a selection of linens and housewares.

As a young girl, Cairo-born Laila Neamatalla learned to make jewelry when her neighbor, Laila Boutros-Ghali, sent her to an Armenian Princess who made jewelry for a Coptic and Armenian orphanage. “She was 90, and I was 16,” explains Laila, the founder of Nakhla Jewels. “The sales of the jewelry supported Coptic and Armenian orphanages.” Years later, after honing her craft, Neamatalla knew she had to make the jewelry in gold as the pharaohs did—and thus Nakhla Jewels was born.

Today considered one of the best jewelers in the country, the family run business includes her husband, Ekram Nakhla and daughter who is designing the current collections, still inspired by the styles of various Egyptian civilizations from the times of the pharaohs to the Ottoman Empire. Many pieces are one of a kind, and all are made with semi-precious stones and crystals as well as amber and 21-carat gold beads and amulets.

Nakhla has two shops selling its designs, one in Giza on the Nile and one in the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), and sales continue to support the orphanages.

This small shop in Zamalek (as well as one at the Grand Egyptian Museum) stocks bath products that are all handmade in Egypt—from bath towels and loofahs to divine-smelling organic soaps, oils, and lotions. The olive oil soaps in small linen pouches embroidered with olives make great, inexpensive gifts to bring home.

This brand dates back to 1988 when its founder took a trip to the Siwa Oasis in the west of Egypt and fell in love with the traditional embroidery work made by the area’s women. Knowing that without a market for their products, the ladies, who, for generations, had passed their skills down through generations, would lose this tradition, Altmann made it her mission to promote and distribute their products. Over the years, she has modernized and expanded the range to include traditional crafts from other Egyptian regions like Nubia, and her daughter has joined the business.

Born and raised in Cairo, sisters Aya and Mounaz Abdelraouf turned their shared passion for craftsmanship, culture, and design into a luxury handbag brand with a global following. The statement purses feature embossed patterns, metal hardware and jewel embellishments, each an exquisite work of art. Their four shops throughout Cairo also sell their distinctively styled sunglasses and jewelry.

Sold in many of the Four Seasons hotels in Egypt, this jewelry brand sells one-of-a-kind designs using precious stones.

Founded in 1997, Sami Aman is a self-taught Egyptian designer who creates two collections every year. His pieces are hand-crafted in Egypt, and their sculptural leather and brass designs have a distinct and easily recognizable aesthetic. Aman has since branched into jewelry and other brand accessories but is best known for his leather pieces.

To find this boutique in Zamalek, you need to follow an alley and climb up a flight of stairs in what appears to be a residential building. Inside, you will discover a taste of the Siwa Oasis—an isolated Egyptian settlement known for its unique culture and beauty—through the crafts made by its community. There are lovely cotton blouses with embroidery, caftans and textiles, as well as stone crafts from various artists. Each gift tells a story.

What makes these creations particularly special is that they are made through the Siwa Women’s Artisanship Development Program, founded in the late 90s when Laila Neamatalla (Nakhala Jewels) started working with women of the Siwa Oasis community as part of a sustainable development initiative started by her brother, Dr. Mounir Neamatalla. The program aims to revive the art of Siwan embroidery, as well as to help Siwan women escape poverty and acquire independence.

This gallery sells handmade products from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, including artwork, fine wooden marquetry, ceramics and antique textiles.