How Giovanina Atieh, Maria Munoz, And Nathalie Mroue Have Impacted Fashion In The Middle East With Maison Pyramide

Maison Pyramide is one of the Middle East’s top consumer brand building platforms. The three women co-founders are one of the few women-led companies in the region with a mission on building bridges between brands in Europe and the Middle East. Representing top fashion brands in the region, as well as lifestyle, luxury, and media sectors, Maison Pyramide provides experience-led concepts and events for emerging talent.

Giovanina Atieh, Maria Munoz, and Nathalie Mroue all founded Masion Pyramide. All three women brought skills and expertise into their company having already worked in the sectors they represent now. “After having gathered years of experience working across the different industries of fashion, lifestyle, retail and media, between the region and internationally, we all found ourselves based in the MEA,” shares Munoz. “We would spend hours discussing our views of the untapped potential of fashion, lifestyle, and consumer brands in the region- and where the industry could be headed with the right ecosystem and professional support. It was during these conversations that the idea for Maison Pyramide started to shape up. We began to think about combining our international backgrounds and build a platform that can help create the global fashion, luxury, and lifestyle brands of the future.”

Last year the trio were able to secure a threefold revenue from their streamlined strategies of creating activations, sales, and distribution services to those in fashion, lifestyle, retail, and media. If you’ve been to Cairo in the last few years, you know the city of 20 million+ has taken a boom. The Egyptian capital is where two of the Maison Pyramide co-founders live, Giovanina Atieh and Maria Munoz.

Burberry has three stores in Cairo, and Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera, Longchamp, and Tommy Hilfiger are a few of the luxury brands found in the city. Elie Saab, the renowned Lebanese designer held a fashion show there in December, as well as for the launch of the Elie Saab signature villas. And with the opening of the St. Regis in Cairo in 2019, along with other luxury hotels like the Four Seasons Cairo and the Conrad Cairo, the city is a beacon of luxury and those wanting to do business in Egypt.

In Egypt, as well as in the Middle East there is a surge of creative talent. This in turn has impacted the creative economy. Mroue points out that government agencies and leading public figures are fostering these private initiatives. “Because of our unique fashion and retail capabilities, as well as our intimate knowledge of the region, we have uniquely positioned ourselves at the epicenter of this fascinating revolution, where fashion and lifestyle meet retail, media, and public affairs in the Middle East.”

Working with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Maison Pyramide is advising the bank on how SMEs in North Africa and Qatar- for instance Fashion Trust Arabia- is able to help emerging fashion brands soar. In Saudi Arabia, Maison Pyramide is working with MDLBEAST in their development of the region’s community-led sustainable festival brand.

Mroue points out that they have been working in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it’s called in the region) since 2018, prior to the Kingdom opening its doors to international tourists. “It was an important market to tap early on considering it holds the region’s most sought-after lifestyle consumer – with that said, it has been exciting to witness and be part of the development of the lifestyle and entertainment industries there through the various initiatives and projects we have been commissioned on over the years,” she says.

Shaping fashion brands in the Middle East

Lebanese fine jewelry brand L’atelier Nawbar, started by two sisters is one of their clients. The trio looks for pure talent, vision, and perseverance in their selection process of designers they work with. Helping regional brands be purpose driven, while establishing a distinct identity is what the company has been able to do for brands like Okhtein, what have reached an international status.

“The sales and distribution arm of the business also recently introduced a $10 million (USD) financing program for emerging and young established fashion labels, offering them the opportunity to fund their production cycles and redeploy cash flow on much needed brand awareness initiatives,” says Attieh. “First in the Middle East, this program demonstrates the firm’s desire to both innovate and lead and is one of many initiatives Maison Pyramide has been working on over the past year.

Working with both private and public sectors, the ladies at Maison Pyramide are focused on helping emerging talent excel. “We are official partners of Fashion Trust Arabia and have taken on a mentorship role alongside the hosting of the Prize’s regional winners through our sales platform,” continues Attieh. “We also work regularly with banks such as AAIB to sponsor and help young local designers earn a space in the bustling global market.”

Last year they opened an office in Dubai, an institutionalized corporate governance with the appointment of a new chairman and shareholder, Yann Pavie. “​​In a short time, Maison Pyramide has built a very distinguished track record in the EMEA of strategic vision, innovation, execution and business results. I’m positive that we will take the company to new heights,” states Pavie in notes. By the third quarter of 2022 the women trio plan to open an office in Riyadh to reinforce their Middle East footprint.