Ahmed Hamdi, the self-made man of Egyptian eyewear
When J-Lo put on her tan glasses, perfectly in nuance with the check dress and the latte trench coat, she did it instinctively and without any briefing. Seen and taken, as they say. And she hadn’t yet admired the Roma model, deep blue, born in Egypt and made in Italy, as he says.
“He is Ahmed Hamdiborn near the Pyramids, owner of one of the brands that is driving Egypt crazy but above all “self made man” in all possible meanings. His line, Nile eyewear, really looks like the embodiment of a modern fairy tale. Nile is dedicated to the Nile, where he used to walk as a child, because in his noisy house, populated by four brothers, he couldn’t study. And like all fairy tales, The hero’s journey begins with the challengewith an enemy to fight, with the darkness of the night as a prelude to light andgoal to reach.
Read also: “Profession manager”, the director Perrino interviews the entrepreneur Francesco Micheli
Niel Eyewear, “No thanks, you’re Egyptian”
Ahmed is a tough guy and the reason it makes eyewear is that, as he says, he wants “change people’s view of the Egyptian people”. He experienced it at Coral Bay in Sharm, where as a boy he went to work in the real estate sector and was told by an Italian company “no, we don’t take Egyptians”. Ahmed reappeared the next day, offering himself as a free worker and committing himself to working full-time for two months before seeing the first customer cross the threshold and sign.
“I worked 18 hours, took the office during break time to receive potential clients – explains the young man, which now has 10 stores to its credit, 6 of which are in Cairo – Now I’m next to the most important brands in the world and for me it’s an extraordinary achievement, the first time I approached the big malls they didn’t open their doors to me but inside I thought ‘in two years you’ll be asking me'” , says Ahmed who studied business administration following the advice of a high school friend.
Read also: Ray-Ban turns eyewear upside down with the Reverse collection
Subscribe to the newsletter