World-renowned designer Karim Mekhtigian posts a rare photo with iconic Souad Hosny

It aims to promote and highlight the design industry in Egypt, with submissions being judged in a variety of different categories

Mekhtigian headed the jury of Interior Design Competition held as part of CDA.  

The event attracted many celebrities and key public figures who highly praised Karim Mekhtigian’s designs onexhibit during the events of Cairo Design Awards (CDA). 

"I am pleased that these designs are made by Egyptian hands.

In my view, it's far better than many famous foreign designs. If we compete with these designs in a world competition, definitely, we will win!” said iconic star Youssra. 

"I loved so much the ideas behind each commercial brand. All are authentic and local. They really made me enjoy my time here,” stated actor Asser Yassin. “Karim Mekhtigianis a very unique person. His ideas are great and I loved his final output. I am so proud of what Karim offers and awaiting the release of these products in the global market,” mentioned actress Amina Khalil. 

Kyme brand, after the original name of Egypt, means the “black land” in reference to its rich fertile valley and delta. 

Under Kyme’s umbrella, Mekhtigian launched a number of commercial brands, including Kari Mekhtigian design studio,  which encompasses Architecture and Interior Design; US is inspired by our own rich heritage and multi-layered culture.

They are promoting a new all-encompassing idea of a “living culture” influenced by Egyptian history. Analogue creates tableware, bringing traditional techniques by skilled Egyptian artisans to create contemporary products for a modern everyday living.

In addition to that, he founded Tchai Tea House, a place in Maadi where tea products are offered; Life Lab,  aninteractive space and The Yar, a grand experiment to introduce environment-friendly “Green” village designs that follow the sustainability principles of modern urban developments.

Karim Mekhtigian, a global artist of Armenian origin and a pioneer in the world of design, be it architecture, interior, product design, art direction as well as design management in general. 

In 1997, Mekhtigian decided to return to Egypt and founded Alchemy Design studio, with three showrooms in Cairo and one in Bahrain. Later, Mohamed Fares joined the studio as a partner. 

Mekhtigian hails from a family of artists.

His uncle is Takfour Antonian, one of the most celebrated distributors and producers in the golden age of Egyptian cinema. 

He produced films that starred Egyptian movie divas such as Soad Hosny’s  Khally Ballak Men Zouzou (Watchoutfor Zouzou) and distributed Adel Emam’s El Harrif(Streetplayer). Mekhtigian often engages in film-related activities. 

Previously, he was responsible for the design of The 40th Legacy Exhibition in celebration of the 40th edition of Cairo International Film Festival.

In the following edition, he worked on the scenography of "Cairo Je t'aime" exhibition that features photographs that chronicle various historical phases of the city. Furthermore, he curated a tribute exhibition, on the works of acclaimed set designer Onsi Abou Seif, at the 4th El Gouna Film Festival. 

Throughout his brilliant career, he collaborated with top notch companies such as Al-Borouj Misr-Administrative Capital, Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment, and Groppi. He designed the logo and was responsible for the branding of the Pharaoh's Golden Parade.  Mekhtigian is a winner of numerous local and global awards. His studio Alchemy Design received Platinum Muse Design Award. 

Mekhtigian is one of the most influential personas in his field in the Arab world. As part of his intense activities, Mekhtigian created the Egyptian Designer’s Forum in 2005 and served as Art Director of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council (EFEC) in 2006.He is a regular head of Cairo Design Awards’ panel of jurors. Cairo design Awards is a platform for award-winning design creativity and innovation, bringing together prominent designers and celebrating the industry’s achievements.