Rami Helali, Co-Founder and CEO of fashion house Kotn (Instagram), has always believed that clothing should tell a story. For Kotn’s latest collection, that story took them deep into the heart of Egypt’s White Desert—a place of breathtaking landscapes and profound personal meaning for Helali.
“When we were putting this collection together, we knew that we didn’t want to shoot it in a studio. We didn’t want to shoot it in the city, although many of us would ultimately end up wearing it there—on coffee runs or wherever life takes us,” Helali explains. “We wanted to shoot it in a place that really showcased the range of this collection and what it was able to do.”
For Helali, the decision to film in Egypt was a natural one. “It was kind of a no-brainer that we were going to do it in Egypt, in one of the places that I grew up experiencing with Zaatar, one of my closest friends. The White Desert always left a lasting impression on us. It’s one of those places that pictures and videos don’t even do justice.”
Rather than simply dropping in for a quick shoot, Kotn and its team spent multiple days camping in the desert. “We set up a base camp and visited all of these different locations that we grew up going to, with everyone in the clothing. There were 26 of us—a mix of cast members, a film crew, our local guides from Farafra, and my friends. We shared meals in the desert, ate Mendi cooked underground, drank Bedouin tea, and truly lived the experience.”
For Helali, this immersive approach was key to capturing the spirit of Kotn’s collection. “What we wanted to capture was the spirit behind these moments you have out in the wild, rather than shooting it in a more traditional way.”
Kotn is more than just a clothing brand—it’s a certified B Corporation with a deep commitment to ethical manufacturing and social impact. But for Helali and his team, that commitment started long before their certification.
“Our B Corp certification came much later than the beginning of the company, which was always built around this very unique way of doing business,” Helali explains. “For us, it was about how we can work with these farms directly, making sure we know where every single piece of our material comes from—all the way down to the raw cotton. We wanted to ensure that every person in the supply chain, from raw material to cut and sew, was paid fairly and treated with respect.”
Beyond ethical sourcing, Kotn has invested heavily in the communities it works with. “Rather than just working with them for the actual product, we wanted to invest in these communities and in the next generation. We wanted to be able to look back 50 years from today and know we had taken steps to provide better options, alternatives, and paths for these communities.”
One of Kotn’s most impactful initiatives has been its commitment to education. “Since day one, we’ve subsidized the farms we work with and reinvested in their communities through education. To date, we’ve built 21 primary schools and two more under development across the Nile Delta and Faiyum,” Helali shares.
This investment is especially critical in rural Egypt, where illiteracy rates remain high. “About 34% of people in the Nile Delta and rural Egypt are illiterate. By building schools, we’re ensuring that the next generation has options, economic freedom, and a brighter future through education.
Kotn started with a simple yet ambitious goal: to create the perfect t-shirt. But as the brand has grown, its vision has evolved. “Our initial vision around creating the perfect t-shirt seemed quite simple, but we learned it was much more complex and harder to do than we originally thought,” Helali admits. “To make a perfect product, you have to do it in a way that you feel pride in, knowing that no one is being mistreated and that you’re actually uplifting communities in the process.”
For Kotn, a perfect garment is more than just high-quality fabric and craftsmanship. “A t-shirt is a t-shirt, but everything that goes into it—the ‘how,’ the ‘who,’ and the ‘where’—is what makes one special,” Helali explains.
As the company has grown, so has its product line. “We wanted to create more of these staples—the pieces that are the heart of everyone’s wardrobe. The t-shirt is a symbol of that. When we design new products, we ask ourselves, ‘Can this still exist in 50 years?’ Both in craftsmanship and quality, but also in style.”
A key part of Kotn’s philosophy is avoiding hyper-trends and overconsumption. “We stay away from trends that come and go, which feed into the bigger issue of overconsumption. Instead, we focus on essentials, basics, and staples—making sure they’re crafted in the most beautiful natural fibers, with the best cuts and fits.”
Through every collection, every initiative, and every decision, Kotn continues to redefine what it means to be a modern, ethical fashion brand—one that not only creates beautiful garments but also builds a better future for the communities behind them.
For more stories of regional and international fashion, visit our dedicated archives.
