“Don’t go to Basateen at night.” For many, it was a familiar warning, an expression of fear passed down through generations, rooted in caution and protection. For Kotn’s (Instagram) CEO and Co-Founder Rami Helali, it was the refrain of his grandmother, a phrase that framed Basateen as a place of menace. But like so many inherited narratives, the reality was different.
Basateen was where his friends lived. It was where evenings stretched into laughter, where generosity thrived despite scarcity, and where community revealed itself in gestures both small and profound. What looked intimidating from the outside held an unexpected tenderness within. And at night, that tenderness transformed into poetry: Cairo’s noise softening into a hum, steam rising from tea glasses on plastic tables, strings of bulbs illuminating narrow alleys where lovers strolled, and music spilling from balconies into the streets below.
This is the Cairo that Kotn’s Fall/Winter 2025 campaign sets out to honor. Titled “إياك تروح البساتين بالليل” (Don’t Go to Basateen at Night), the campaign transforms an old warning into an invitation: to embrace the unknown, to seek beauty in the overlooked, and to discover the humanity that thrives in the shadows of a city often defined by its chaos.
Directed by Jad Rahme, with photography by Mohammed Sherif and styling by Ahmed Sorour, the campaign unfolds through four short films that weave together stories of friendship, love, and discovery. Featuring a cast of emerging local talent alongside high-profile cameos, including Emil Wakim, Sarah Lysander, Bashir Arab-Sanchez, Noor Elkhaldi, Romy Nassar, and Adham Elsedawy, the films paint Cairo not as a spectacle, but as a lived-in city of intimacy and rhythm.
Shot in neighborhoods alive with texture, the narrative is less about rebellion than perspective. “What looks intimidating from the outside often holds the deepest beauty within,” says Helali. It is this reframing that defines the campaign: a cinematic meditation on perception, inheritance, and what unfolds when fear is set aside.
Visually, the films are drenched in the romance of Cairo after dark. Golden streetlights scatter halos on cracked pavements; neon glows mix with moonlight to carve new geographies out of familiar streets. Everyday rituals, tea on rooftops, conversations spilling across balconies, impromptu laughter between friends, are treated as the city’s greatest elegance. It is a portrait of Cairo that is deeply local yet universally resonant: raw, unfiltered, and undeniably human.
Anchoring the campaign is Kotn’s FW25 collection, a study in nostalgia, function, and self-expression. Designed for the rhythms of everyday life, the collection is built around versatility: collegiate-inspired classics, refined tailoring, and layered staples that balance structure with ease. Each piece channels a distinct mood, whether artful minimalism or expressive eclecticism, yet remains grounded in timeless wearability.
The collection reflects the spirit of Cairo at night: understated yet vibrant, practical yet infused with poetry. Built for movement, conversation, and connection, it celebrates individuality without losing sight of community. In this sense, FW25 is not just clothing, it is a continuation of Kotn’s ethos of designing for “lasting ways of life.”
Kotn has never been only about clothes. Founded with the idea of creating the perfect t-shirt, a piece that didn’t compromise on quality, price, or integrity, the brand has grown. Every purchase directly invests in systems that build jobs, infrastructure, and education in the communities Kotn works with.
Koton’s work begins at the source: with over 5,000 smallholder farmers who cultivate the cotton that forms Kotn’s foundation. Like farm-to-table for clothing, the supply chain is built on traceability, from the first seed to the final stitch. Through its ABCs Project, Kotn has built 15 schools and funded 21 more across cotton-farming communities, ensuring that education grows alongside economic empowerment.
This commitment, sustainability tied to community, echoes in FW25. Just as the campaign challenges perceptions of Basateen, the brand challenges the narratives of fashion itself, proving that style, responsibility, and impact are not mutually exclusive but inseparable.
“Don’t go to Basateen at night” is more than a campaign title. It is a reminder of how perception shapes reality, and how courage transforms fear into beauty. For Kotn, it is an invitation to walk into the unknown streets of Cairo, to listen to its quiet dignity, and to celebrate the life that blooms after sunset.
FW25 is not about perfection. It is about movement, intimacy, and the raw elegance of people living authentically in their city. It is about the Basateens of the world, the neighborhoods, the stories, the overlooked corners, that reveal their true magic only when the sun goes down.
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