Pillaging of high-end stores, manufacturing reduced to 20%, export dropped to 10%... This is the situation that Egyptian professionals in the fashion industry find themselves in right now.

Manifestations in Cairo - Photo: AFP

While the Egyptian revolt continues, it is difficult to obtain precise information regarding the current problems that local professionals in the fashion, luxury and textile business are having to face. When the country’s internet was restored a few days ago, Alaa Shedeed, editor in chief of Egyptian textiles magazine Khoyot, talked to FashionMag.com about some of the information that he was able to gather.

The Federation of Egyptian Industries, which naturally includes textiles, announced that the country’s industrial production is down to 20% of its total capacity. The first reason for this is that a great number of people are not going to work in order to stay home and protect their houses and families, given the recent rise in thefts and violence. It is also due to a shortage of supplies in terms of raw materials which, although already a problem before the crisis started, is now even worse. Regarding sales, the latter fell by a critical 90% during the first 10 days of riots.

For now, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry assures that the export of products has only gone down 6% during the month of January. The re-elected minister Samiha Fawzi confirms that it is his intention to restore production to its normal rate, and he even intends to increase productivity in order to make up for the recent losses. The minister also announced the creation of an “exceptional council” in charge of the task, having as a primary goal to make the acquisition of raw materials easier.

Meeting between minister Samiha Fawzi and representatives of Egyptian industries

Pillaging of luxury boutiques

With conflicts between Egyptians freedom fighters and the authorities increasing, pillaging came as a natural consequence. In the Maadi square, shopping centre Arcadie saw its clothes, accessories and furniture stores get destroyed. Located at 3 kilometres from the now famous Liberation Square, the shopping centre estimates that thefts have amounted to a total loss of 30 million Egyptian pounds (3.7 million euros), also saying that most stolen goods were high-end imported luxury products.

The occurrence made another one of the city’s shopping centres, City Star Center, appeal to the armed forces to help with its own protection. But shopping centres are not the only ones being attacked, as stores from the prestigious Ligue Arabe Street have also been looted. Just like in other shopping streets, its various high-end boutiques were broken into and emptied. For the time being, stores located in more conventional areas have not yet suffered damages. The question now is to know how longer the demonstrations can last, and if their mission will be successful.