Yara Lotfy For Nuniz, the ambition was never simply to build a successful handbag brand. Since joining the company in 2022, Carole Nathan, CEO and partner at Nuniz, has approached the business with a wider vision: to transform an Egyptian label into a growing luxury ecosystem built on design, craftsmanship and manufacturing.
Bringing a background in finance and venture capital to a company rooted in creativity, she has helped shape a model where commercial discipline and creative integrity are not competing forces, but essential partners. From expanding into menswear and home accessories to establishing Made by Nuniz as a dedicated B2B arm, the business has steadily moved beyond the product itself—towards a larger proposition for what Egyptian luxury can become.
In this conversation with Flair Business, Carole reflects on building for scale without losing the human element of craftsmanship, the relationship between emotion and commerce, the power of complementary leadership, and Nuniz’s ambition to take Egyptian design and manufacturing to a global stage.
1. Tell us more about your background. What was your upbringing like, and what did it teach you about ambition, independence and building something of your own?
I grew up with a very strong sense of independence. I spent part of my teenage years in Switzerland, which exposed me early on to a very different culture and way of thinking. Being half Swiss also shaped me in many ways. I naturally developed a very disciplined mindset and learned to value structure, consistency, accountability and doing things properly.
My professional background was quite different from fashion. I worked in finance and venture capital, which taught me to look at businesses through a very commercial lens: understanding numbers, risk, opportunity, investment and, most importantly, what makes a business Sustainable.
But I have never really followed a traditional path. I am very curious by nature, and I have always been someone who learns by doing.
When I joined Nuniz, I wasn’t coming into fashion with years of experience in the industry. I came with an entrepreneurial mindset, a willingness to learn and a strong belief that we could build something much bigger.
For me, ambition has never been about a title. It is about creating something meaningful, something that can grow beyond you and that you can genuinely be proud of.
Building something of your own requires independence, but it also requires resilience, humility and the ability to keep going when things don’t go according to plan.
2. What did you bring to Nuniz from your own professional background, and what did building a fashion and luxury business teach you that you couldn’t have learned elsewhere?
When I joined Nuniz in 2022, the company was still relatively small, with around 12 employees across all departments. I joined with a very clear vision: to help transform Nuniz from a local growing brand into a company capable of competing internationally while remaining deeply rooted in Egyptian craftsmanship and manufacturing.
My background in finance gave me a strong commercial and structured perspective. I naturally think about scalability, margins, investment, risk, systems and long-term value.
But building a fashion and luxury business taught me something that numbers alone could never teach me: you cannot build a luxury brand purely through business logic. You can have the right margins and strategy, but if people don’t feel something when they see, touch or wear the product, you haven’t built a luxury brand.
Nuniz taught me how closely emotion and commerce are connected. It taught me patience, creativity, leadership and the importance of protecting the essence of a brand while allowing it to evolve.
It also taught me that building a company is about much more than products. It is about people, systems, culture, manufacturing, customer experience and creating something sustainable for the long term.
3. You and Nadia Zarkani, the founder, first met in 2018, but it was your reunion in 2021 that ultimately led to you joining forces. What did you see in Nuniz—and in yourself—that made you believe this could become much bigger than a bag brand?
When I met Nadia again in 2021, I didn’t just see a bag brand. I saw a very strong creative identity and an opportunity that had not yet been fully realized.
Nadia had created something with a very distinct point of view. There was craftsmanship, design and an authentic Egyptian story. But I felt there was much more that could be built around it.
I saw the potential to create an Egyptian luxury house rather than simply a successful handbag Brand.
I recognized that our strengths were complementary. Nadia had the creative vision and an incredibly refined design perspective, while I had the appetite to build the structure around that vision, commercialise the opportunity and push the business forward.
Since then, the business has evolved considerably. We started with Nuniz Cairo as our core brand, then introduced Bahawat, our men’s line, followed by Bayt Nuniz, which allowed us to enter the home accessories space.
We then created Made by Nuniz, our dedicated B2B arm, which opened an entirely different business opportunity for us. And most recently, in August 2026, we launched In Btwn, a completely separate company and brand from Nuniz, positioned at a more accessible price point.
So when I say I saw something bigger than a bag brand, this is really what I meant. I saw the possibility of building an ecosystem around Egyptian design, craftsmanship and manufacturing.
4. You describe yourself as someone who believes in boldness and evolution, while Nadia brings a highly refined design perspective. How do those two personalities complement each other when making major business decisions?
We challenge each other constantly, and I think that is one of the reasons our partnership works. Nadia is extremely protective of the creative integrity of Nuniz. She has an incredible eye and knows instinctively when something feels right or wrong for the brand.
I tend to challenge myself from a different angle. I ask: Is this scalable? Is it commercially viable? Are we thinking big enough? Does this move us forward? Sometimes one of us has to convince the other. Sometimes we disagree. But ultimately, we have the same ambition.
I think the healthiest partnerships are not necessarily between two people who think exactly alike. They are between people who bring different strengths but share the same vision.
Nadia protects the soul of the brand, while I am constantly pushing the business to evolve. And we both challenge each other to make better decisions.
5. Fashion and luxury can be deeply emotional industries, but running a brand also requires discipline and commercial thinking. How do you balance the emotional side of Nuniz with the business reality behind it?
I don’t think the emotional and commercial sides are opposites. The emotion is what makes someone want the product. The business discipline is what allows you to continue creating it.
There are moments when you have to protect the creative vision, even when something isn’t the easiest commercial decision. But there are also moments when you have to be honest and say,
“This is beautiful, but it doesn’t make business sense.”
I tend to ask two questions: Does this strengthen the brand, and does it strengthen the business? When the answer to both is yes, you know you’ve made the right decision.
For me, discipline is actually what protects creativity. Without the right systems, production capabilities, financial discipline and people behind it, the creative vision cannot scale.
6. There is often a romantic idea around “Egyptian-made” products, but building a commercially successful Egyptian luxury brand requires much more than a compelling story. What have been the hardest parts of turning Egyptian craftsmanship into a scalable business?
The biggest challenge is moving from craftsmanship to consistency and scale without losing what made the craftsmanship special in the first place.
We have our own factory today with around 100 craftsmen, and that is something I am incredibly proud of. When I joined, we were operating across only three factory floors. Today, we have a six-floor factory that I genuinely consider my second home.
Egypt has incredible talent and craftsmanship, but creating a scalable luxury manufacturing operation requires much more than talented artisans. You need systems, quality control, production planning, training, reliable supply chains and a very strong operational backbone.
You are essentially trying to build structure around a very human process without taking away the human element that makes it special.
For me, the factory is one of the most important parts of Nuniz because it means we are not simply telling a story about Egyptian craftsmanship—we are actively investing in it, creating jobs, developing talent and building the capabilities to produce at international standards.
7. You have worked with hospitality and lifestyle businesses including My Otel by Waterway, Solare by Misr Italia, Marakez and Amelia Beirut. What does it mean for Nuniz to become part of another brand’s identity rather than simply putting its own name on a product?
This is one of the most exciting parts of what we do.
My Otel is a very unique hospitality concept, and being trusted to become part of that experience says a lot about how far our work has evolved. When Nuniz becomes part of another brand’s world, we are not simply putting our logo on a product. We are interpreting their identity through our craftsmanship.
Every partner has its own language, audience and purpose. Our role is to understand that world and create something that feels authentic to it while still carrying the quality and craftsmanship that define what we do.
There is also something very powerful about knowing that a product made by our craftsmen can live inside another brand’s story without needing to carry the Nuniz name.
8. There is something particularly powerful about the idea that the craftsmanship behind Nuniz can exist beyond the Nuniz label. Through your B2B and private-label work, you are effectively exporting Egyptian craftsmanship into other brands and spaces. How important is this side of the business to Nuniz’s long-term growth vision?
It is fundamental, which is why we created Made by Nuniz, our dedicated B2B arm. At a certain point, we realised that what we had built was not only a consumer brand. We had developed a serious manufacturing and craftsmanship capability, with people, infrastructure and know-how that could create products for other businesses as well.
Made by Nuniz allows us to work with hospitality, lifestyle, fashion and corporate partners and create products specifically for their worlds.
It means that our craftsmanship can exist beyond the Nuniz label. We can become the creative and manufacturing force behind another brand’s product or experience.
That is a much bigger opportunity than simply selling more bags. Our long-term vision is to establish Egyptian craftsmanship as something that can compete globally not as a novelty, but as a serious, high-quality manufacturing proposition.
9. Nuniz has moved from a workshop to Maison du Caire, a standalone Maadi store, the Grand Egyptian Museum and now Park Street. As you look ahead, what role do you want your stores to play in Nuniz’s growth, particularly as you consider new locations and, potentially, international markets?
We are opening our new Park Street store in Q4, and this one is particularly special to us. We have been working on it for almost two years because we didn’t want to create simply another retail space. We wanted to create an **experience store**—a physical expression of what Nuniz has become and where we are going.
The space was designed by Design Point, with Nehal Leheta and Karim El Hayawan, and it brings our newest brand identity to life, developed with Omar Hikal and **The Brand Company**.
The store is about creating a world around Nuniz. We want people to experience the craftsmanship, design, materials and story not simply come in to purchase a bag.
As we look at future locations, that philosophy will remain important. We don’t want to open stores just to increase our store count. Every location needs a reason to exist and should add something to the customer’s relationship with the brand.
And when we eventually enter international markets, I want that same philosophy to come with us. We are not interested in exporting a generic Egyptian aesthetic. We want to export a very specific point of view and a strong sense of identity.
10. Nuniz has already used collaboration as a way of extending its story, including the Magdi Yacoub piece created with Design Point. How do you evaluate a potential one—is the priority reaching a new customer base, entering a new market, strengthening brand equity, or creating an entirely new revenue stream?
There isn’t one formula.
A collaboration has to answer a bigger question: Why should Nuniz be part of this?
Some collaborations are about reaching a new audience or entering a new market. Others are about strengthening brand equity, creating cultural relevance or doing something meaningful.
The Magdi Yacoub The piece we created with Design Point was a CSR initiative, where the purpose went beyond commercial value. We have also done another CSR initiative with **Hearts and Crafts**, and these projects are important to us because they allow the brand to use its capabilities for something bigger than itself.
We have also had collaborations such as our work with Rebel Cairo, where the product itself became a meeting point between two creative identities.
11. What’s next for Nuniz? What are the upcoming collaborations, partnerships or categories that you can reveal?
For me, the best collaborations are the ones where one plus one creates something that neither brand could have created alone. If the only reason to collaborate is to create another revenue stream, I don’t think that’s enough. The collaboration has to add something to the story.
We are at a very exciting stage because we are building something much bigger than Nuniz Cairo as a single brand.
At the luxury end, Nuniz Cairo continues to evolve, with the Park Street experience store opening in Q4 being a major milestone. We have been working on this project for almost two years, and it represents the newest chapter of the brand, bringing our new identity to life in a physical space.
We also continue to grow Made by Nuniz, our B2B arm, which has become an important business in its own right. We see significant potential in continuing to work with hospitality, lifestyle and other partners across the region and internationally.
We also have Bahawat collection, our men’s line, and **Bayt Nuniz, our home accessories line, which allows us to take the Nuniz universe into different categories and lifestyles.
And just this August, we launched In Btwn, which is a completely separate company and brand from Nuniz. It is positioned at a more accessible price point and allows us to speak to a much broader audience without compromising Nuniz’s position as a luxury brand.
That distinction is very important to me. In Btwn is not a lower-priced Nuniz line. It is its own company, with its own identity, customer and ambition.
We also have a very exciting Bayt Nuniz collaboration launching towards the end of this year with one of the top interior designers in the Middle East. I can’t reveal too much yet, but it is a project I am particularly excited about because it takes our craftsmanship into a different world.
Ultimately, the vision is not to become bigger for the sake of being bigger. It is to build distinct businesses, each with a very clear identity and purpose, while collectively demonstrating what Egyptian design, craftsmanship and entrepreneurship can achieve.
Between Nuniz Cairo, Bahawat, Bayt Nuniz, Made by Nuniz and now “in btwn.”, the structure is already there for us to keep adding categories and companies as the right opportunities come.
I’d rather let each one speak for itself when it launches than tease it too early but if the last few years are any indication, this won’t be the last new name you hear from us.
For me, that is the exciting part of the next chapter. Nuniz doesn’t have to remain just a handbag brand. We have the opportunity to build something much bigger around the craftsmanship, creativity and identity that started it all.
