Temple Tramp's New Collection Speaks Volumes Beneath Its Simple Veneer

Street style label Temple Tramp has been a changemaker in Egyptian fashion since its launch in 2016. In all that time, founders Sandra Abdalla and Mai Tawakol have made it clear that what they’re selling isn’t actually fashion at all. It’s enlightenment. “We’re for anyone who makes a conscious decision to wear us, because that will have meant that they understand what we’re about," Sandra Abdalla, the creative director of Temple Tramp, tells #CairoScene. "If you understand our message, that’s the currency for entry.” Because good and evil exists in each of us, the brand plays off the idea that we are all balancing the angel and the devil within, or - as they call it - the sacred and the profane.

The label has stayed true to this core belief, but not without undergoing a little metamorphosis. What was initially a label imbued with graphic T-shirts laced with motivational slogans has since emerged from the cocoon to reveal a deeper side of its personality. Their latest collection, ‘The 8th Virtue’, features relaxed athleisure sets that are complemented by smart outerwear, making for an achingly cool counter-statement.

"We’re trying to kill so many birds with one stone," Abdalla says. "We’re trying to bring forward a certain aesthetic that isn’t available here and offer something that is meaningful at the same time.”

With a name like 'The 8th Virtue' - based on the seven Biblical virtues in Catholic thought - you can tell it's not just about accepting the spiritual angle as is. Rather, it invites you to think beyond your presumptions. “We are all about how the sacred and the profane are intertwined in this eternal dance and that everything is connected. Sacred and profane are two sides of the same coin. Everyday we look for the divinity in things, but we also live with how human we are.”