Malaika Linens

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.