15 young artists who use personal branding to show their art
The Middle East is a region that is rich in culture and heritage. The region has been home to many artists who have contributed to the arts in various ways. In the past few years, there has been a new wave that’s changing the scene of art in the region.
This new wave is led by a new generation of young artists who are all in their twenties, they are using their creativity to make a name for themselves. They are not only doing that through their artwork, but also through their personal brands. They use social media as a platform to brand for themselves, they view it as a solution for the little-to-no budget they have.
“In this article, we will explore the work of 15 young artists who have made a name for themselves in the Middle East through their personal brands and artistic expression.”
One thing is common between skateboarding and art, which is that there’s no rules applied.
Faris has been fond of skateboarding since he was a child; he’s not a normal skater though, he’s one of the best in the Middle East. He always ranks in the first two places in Red Bull skateboarding competitions. His love and skills that he has in skateboarding have led him to be sponsored in Oxada Skate Shop.
Not just that, Faris -or saintloveya as his instagram handle- is not just a skater, he’s a true artist who tries to utilize his full potential by adding value and leaving his mark. Saintloveya uses his creativity to play with different forms of arts with a “better try and fail than not trying” mentality. He produces music and sings R&B and rap. He’s also a designer which shows the depth of the skills and talent this young man has, and he’s only 17, yes you read it right, he does all of that and he’s just 17 so the sky’s the limit for Faris.
Omar Hegazy is a young graphic/fashion designer and one of the pioneers of the streetwear fashion trend in Egypt. When Omar was 17, he started his online streetwear fashion brand “Richa” which took the fashion scene in Egypt by storm. It literally started a whole trend of streetwear among adults and young adults. Omar designed stylish and artsy streetwear clothing that made us all fall in love with the street aesthetics.
Omar Hegazy is a visionary; he uses his art to influence youth in Egypt, and sees social media as the go-to in order to achieve that. He definitely succeeded in that, seeing as his fashion brand account “Richa” is one of the most successful online brands.
When you talk about talent, you can’t help but mention this amazing girl. Amina literally does everything, Amina is a graphic designer, a fashion designer, a painter and an instructor, yes, she teaches children painting. Amina does different forms of art and has a personal branding account where she does customized paintings on different products, she also runs her online fashion brand “Funk du Cáire”.
On her personal brand, Amina’s showing off her muscles in painting and illustrating; she paints on bucket hats mostly but she also sells her paintings. On the other hand, @funkducaire is exactly as it sounds; it’s all about funk. It’s all about being funky, artsy and showing your colors to the world.
Amina is an aspiring artist who has done so much at a very young age and she definitely has a lot more to show us.
Punk is all about being yourself, liking what you like, saying what you think and fuck everybody else. That is Bouklao in a nutshell.
Born and raised in Alexandria; Ziad -AKA Bouklao- is a young artist who’s being himself and doing what he loves, and he happens to be very talented in all the things he does. Bouklao is a skateboarder, illustrator, tattoo artist, singer and musician – and he’s big on all of them. With a punkish and rebellious lifestyle, Bouklao is a skateboarder and part of Skate Impact’s team, an illustrator and a tattoo artist who’s been part of Tappin’ Tatts, and he’s also a bassist and vocalist who has his own punk-rock band “Gnar Jar”.
Bouklao uses social media, especially instagram, for personal branding and he utilizes his different forms of art to serve each other, which is getting him closer and closer to become a complete artist and a one-man-band. Bouklao is really one of the rising young artists in Egypt who can’t really be limited to one form of art.
Nour AbdelHakim is a young artist driven by her passion in fashion, illustrations and graphics. Although she’s an undergraduate, she has taken serious steps in branding for herself and her art. Nour has started her online fashion brand “Society” at a very young age, her brand mixes fashion-forward futuristic designs with streetwear aesthetics.
From the first look at “Society” instagram account or website you will notice how good Nour is, she’s a true fashion designer and artist who still has a bunch of great ideas to show us.
Where shall we start? The early twenties is the age of trial and error and Dakroury understands that fully. He’s an multidisciplinary artist who does graphic and fashion designing, painting, illustration, film photography and video editing. Very impressive, right? What’s even more impressive is that he has 9 fingers and it’s not due to an accident or something, he was born that way.
Dakroury’s love for fashion has led him to put his talent and skills to application in the fashion industry. Lately, he established his streetwear fashion brand “Globe Discoveries” which, from the look of it, you can see the quality in shooting, editing and -of course- designs. Dakroury runs his brand on instagram and the brand’s website; however, he doesn’t have a personal account to showcase his artwork.
Castell is an audio-visual artist and illustrator who graduated from the College of Art Education at Cairo University.
Castell’s work and online presence is a reflection of her artistic expression; her work explores some dark and psychological themes with focus on the new technologies and new forms of arts that’s been emerging during the few past years. As a DJ, Castell is giving the same nightmarish/dystopian vibe; she plays dark and sometimes aggressive tones as an audio experience that can be seen as an extension to her visual identity.
Despite being a multidisciplinary artist, Castell doesn’t manage her two career paths independently – she does her personal branding through one account which helps in achieving an audio-visual storytelling experience where each kind of art plays a role in delivering a big idea.
Coming from an artistic background, Lilly Helmy, who is the daughter of Ahmed Helmy and Mona Zaki, was able to find her direction from a very young age. Unlike her parents who express their art through acting, she found her passion in painting and designing; she was determined to make a name for herself without their parents’ influence. Since she was a child, Lilly took painting as a way to express herself, her emotions and her art.
Lilly’s interest for fashion painting and designing was like a big sign from the universe telling her to start her fashion brand, and she took the hint and established her personal brand through her instagram account -@lillysworkshopp- and her website. Lilly is only 20 years old and she’s incredibly successful in running her personal brand with 153k followers on her instagram account.
Driven from their love for art and fashion, Hossam and Hamdi decided to establish their streetwear fashion brand “KERB” after Hossam had just spent years in Europe studying streetwear fashion brands and pop culture. Together, they dropped some sick tees and hoodies inspired by the street aesthetics and colors. KERB brand has grown rapidly considering that it started in mid 2022.
Although Hossam & Hamdi studied the latest trends in the fashion industry, they found their inspiration in the rejects of Cairo – they got their inspiration from the streets.
Hossam and Hamdi have made their impact and shown their identity to the fashion scene in Egypt and worldwide, all thanks to instagram and the brand’s website. Since their first collection, they have established their identity to be the home of the creatives, skateboarders and outcasts through their online presence. They were featured in an article by Hypebeast.
Mahmoud is a stylist, photographer, creative director and content creator. He uses instagram as a personal branding platform for his styling work through his main personal instagram account, and through his business account “@styledbymoud”.
Mahmoud has done several projects as a photographer and creative director where he showed his creativity and vision. In styling though, he worked on different projects with the likes of Feluka and UNN Models; he was also featured in Gmaro Magazine. Mahmoud is a creative mind who has done a lot at a young age and he’s only gonna get better and enrich the young art scene.
First of all Sakran is a girl, yes, she’s an amazing young painter and illustrator whose work plays and manipulates colors with an indie theme mixed with some inspirations from Cairo streets and homes. Sakran is trying to add value through her art, so far, she has done several projects in photography, painting, illustration, 3D and installations. Beside that, she has published two research papers related to her two photography projects which are: a photo series called “How Everything Is Kitsch” and a book & photo album called “Age of Escapism/Psychosis.
In “How Everything Is Kitsch”, Sakran is discussing how Kitsch has become the new aesthetic due to globalization and that Egypt should take advantage of that through working together -all social classes- to see the aesthetic of the Egyptian Kitsch. On the other hand, “Age of Escapism/Psychosis” tackles the negative psychological impact of technology and modernism which have caused mental illness to spread. Sakran uses her account on instagram and her website in personal branding and doing business.
Going through @ctlwear’s instagram feed, you can easily notice how talented Leithy is. With a dark and cult-themed identity, CTL only abides by the one rule of the streets which is that there are no rules. CTL preaches for authenticity and giving zero fucks; you can sense that from every piece they’ve dropped so far. Leithy has quickly succeeded in making an impression in the streetwear fashion scene and art scene in Egypt, as CTL’s instagram account has reached 11k in no time, all thanks to the visual identity and the artistic quality work Leithy has been doing.
“Abdullah’s not here, Abdullah’s in the factory”. A phrase you’re gonna hear a lot if you know Abdullah, he’s one of the most dedicated people to their work and doing what they love. You probably heard about the brand “Uncrtn” from a friend, or you probably follow the brand’s account on instagram. Well, Abdullah is the person behind “Uncrtn”.
In 2021, Abdullah established his streetwear brand “Uncrtn”, since day 1, Abdullah has been determined to make an impact through his artsy and experimental clothing. His goal was to stay away from the cliche and create a legacy for his brand rather than make a quick profit.
Though he doesn’t have social media, Abdullah uses instagram for his fashion brand in which he’s responsible for literally everything. So, in a sense, he’s using instagram for branding his work. “Uncrtn” also has an e-commerce website where Abdullah runs the business.
Bassem is a photographer, creative director, graphic designer and skateboarder. Since he was young, Bassem found his interest in skateboarding and underground art – he found in them the freedom and the opportunity to do what he loves outside of the conventional norms. Being a photographer & a filmer in Skate Impact from 2014 to 2018, Bassem was very close to the street art scene in Alexandria where he started to challenge himself with different forms of artistic expression.
The underground music was his first stop – with a non-existent budget, he started to invest in young trap artists in his hometown like Wegz and Marwan Pablo with some cool music videos that were aiming to add artistic value and challenge limitations. He really made a lemonade out of sour lemons considering the budget he had. Long story short, these artists have made a new wave in the Egyptian music industry and some argue that Bassem was the one responsible for that wave. He also worked with some other big names such as Marwan Moussa and Afroto.
Bassem has always been interested in the idea of empty spaces; he views it as an opportunity to try different things and put his mark with very little limitations. Consequently, Bassem had to leave the rap scene and search for his empty space – that is streetwear fashion. He started channeling his creativity in fashion photography with his focus on streetwear, introducing a bunch of streetwear small brands. Bassem quickly made his impact in fashion as these brands have started to grow rapidly taking over the whole fashion industry.
Bassem uses instagram for personal branding and showing off his art through @droogsrules and @bassemartwork. So don’t sleep on Bassem, he’s a true artist and a pioneer who has a lot more to show us.
Music has always been proven to be a powerful and transcendental form of art that has the ability to create trip-like experiences and deliver strong messages. Assyouti’s been using music in that sense implementing instagram to share his artistic journey and brand for himself as an artist. Being based in Cairo and Berlin, Assyouti has reached international acclaim with his music production and DJing – being one of the few Arabic artists to appear on HÖR Berlin.
