Thursday March 28th, 2024
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This Online Fashion Store Urges Egyptian Girls to Unleash their Creative Side

Bee Picks is an online fashion store that is pushing us to throw out out basics and unleash our creative side.

Staff Writer

The plight of every fashionable young woman in Egypt is in that we never find enough diversity when it comes to our shopping choices. With only a handful of actual clothing stores in Egypt that cater to our fashion tastes, most of us end up wearing identical pieces and being copies of each other. More so, for the girls with a more eccentric taste in clothing, there are very limited options that enable their to explore their wild side, if any. Half Turkish – half Egyptian fashion blogger, Berna Ibrahim is shattering the glass ceiling of Egypt’s fashion scene by importing fabulous pieces from local Turkish designers and selling them online through Instagram account Bee picks. And her pieces are far from basic.

Adamant on encouraging young Egyptians to experiment with their styles and develop a look that’s outside the box, Ibrahim doesn’t confine herself to one particular style nor does she conform to societal norms when it comes to her choice of outfits. The fashion influencer rather prefers outfits that pop and make her stand out. Pushing young women to follow suit, she’s not interested in providing us with the basics but rather with over the top pieces. 

“I love glitter and colours that stand out, anything over the top really. That’s my style. And the items I pick for my online store reflect my own personality and taste. I want Egyptian women to have the confidence to wear what they want without worrying about what people think because our culture tends to mock those who dress differently,” says Ibrahim. “When I first moved to Egypt after having lived in Turkey my whole life, people made fun of the way I dressed. For them, it was different and eccentric. I didn’t care though, I still did my own thing."

 

Newwwww fabrics 🙈❤️

A post shared by Bee Picks by Berna Ibrahim 🐝 (@beepicks) on

Other than a lack of options, the fashion scene in Egypt has only recently started witnessing young women break out on their own and experiment with non-conformist styles; not bearing heed to the words of those around them. The issue still remains though, that unless we've got a way to pop over to Paris or London for a little shopping spree, we're forced to be confined to the restricted choices in Egypt. Having been in several situations herself where she’d end up twinning with other fashion bloggers, Ibrahim decided to take matters into her own hands. Not searching for money or fame but to help those facing the same dilemma, Ibrahim found her inspiration in wanting to defy the country's norms and bringing new trends to Egypt's fashion scene. 

“We all go to Zara and so many times I’ve ended up at an event where a fellow fashion blogger and myself would be wearing the same outfit. This is where the inspiration for Bee Picks came,” says Ibrahim. “I want people to have options when it comes to fashion in Egypt. That’s the concept. It's for Egyptian women who have enough self-confidence to pull off whatever they want to wear."

Having started her online store in 2017, Ibrahim hand picks the items from suppliers in Turkey and facilitates the whole shopping process for her followers. Picking leggings with vibrant colours, suits with unconventional designs, and swimsuits with a whole lot of ruffles, Bee Picks will definitely have those who wear her pieces as the talk of the town, in a good way.

“I wear Egyptian brands when in Turkey and Turkish brands when in Egypt because I don’t like to conform to the general style being worn in any country and I want to provide that same option for the Egyptian girls who want something different,” explains Ibrahim. “Most of the time, when someone compliments me on an outfit while I’m in Egypt and asks me where I got it from, I can't really give them an answer that will benefit them. Usually it's because the outfit I'm wearing isn't from an online brand store. They're from local Turkish designers so for Bee Picks I get the pieces from Turkey and sell them in pounds.

Ibrahim doesn’t just have a knack for fashion though, she’s also a successful business woman who was voted employee of the year at her company when she was only 21. Getting into the family business after that, she was required to travel all over the world as part of her job as business development manager. Her climb to being a fashion blogger started from there and it was initially just a hobby.

 

#Repost @alyanihankoyunpinar with @get_repost ・・・

A post shared by Bee Picks by Berna Ibrahim 🐝 (@beepicks) on

“I’d travel to all these places for work and take nice photos of my outfit because I like fashion. Then I started getting more and more followers so I decided to pursue both. And it isn’t easy because I’m constantly doing a million things at the same time. Between my family’s business which requires a lot of travel due to its nature, I’ve also got my own Instagram account, another collaboration account Fad Fashion and now Bee’s Picks,” Says Ibrahim. “Being in and out of meetings and handling all these accounts I’ve learnt to multi-task and I’ve picked up a few tricks that help with time efficiency."

Check out Bee Picks on Instagram.