Souma steps into the room, tall and beautiful with thick locks dangling down to her waist. Dripping in her own jewellery, Souma lets her chains speak for her. They tell the tale of a proud woman, interested in Egyptian symbolisms and standing out. We meet in a garden café in Cairo. On my search for Black women in the Egyptian fashion scene, Souma’s name has been popping up everywhere - she has collaborated with Egyptian fashion brands like QUWA and Kojak Studio, and her work was featured in KALTBLUT magazine as one of Egypt’s creatives setting a new standard for the fashion, art and music scene in Cairo.
British-Libyan, born in the UK and raised mostly in Cairo, Egypt, Souma describes herself as a “creative without having to speak words”. As a painter, stylist and jewellery maker, she always knew she wanted to do art, but had to work hard to convince her parents that it would be a worthwhile endeavour. She started painting as a little kid, not interested in anything but the canvas. After studying fashion in Toronto, she unexpectedly found herself back in Cairo last year. “I didn’t think I’d ever live here again, but then I realised that there’s so much opportunity for growth here”, she says. She continues with, “The fashion scene, the music scene, even conversations around sexuality are so interesting. We didn’t use to be as exposed to progressive, creative expression as we are now.”
Souma once saw chains hanging on a pair of trousers in Bershka. She wanted the chains, not the pants, and when she couldn’t buy them separately, she decided to make her own. Cairo’s wust el balad (“downtown”), the heart of the city, is known for its skilful jewellery makers and hidden treasures of gold and silver. Many people and craftsmen of wust el balad follow a traditional Egyptian lifestyle that’s very different from the affluent, international, suburb that Souma grew up in. Souma says, “I had to lie to my dad to go downtown and explore the jewellery workshops. That trip changed my relationship with Cairo, I discovered so much beauty and connected with the people there.” Since then, Souma has made it a habit to discover downtown for inspiration and jewellery, “I love going there by myself and feeling like I am part of something bigger, even though I’m not Egyptian. In Egypt, they don’t make you feel like an outsider; everyone’s habibi. It’s not normal in other languages to call anyone darling, no matter their class and age, but here it is.”
It seems counter-intuitive for a woman to walk around the conservative neighbourhoods of Cairo in chains and piercings. The Egyptian capital is infamous for its endemic problems with sexual harassment, which means that many women make an effort not to attract too much attention in the streets. “My chains are different”, says Souma, smiling. Raised in a Muslim household, she grew up hyper-aware of the restrictions conservative societies place on women’s appearances. Through her jewellery, she found a loophole, stating, “[it’s] not too vulgar and not permanent. It doesn’t hide skin, and it doesn’t expose it more. If you want to put the chains on top of your clothes, you can.” Souma plays with the irony of chains as a tool for oppression and limitation. She desires to do the opposite; she wants her chains to make young women limitless and infuse them with the confidence needed to claim their own narrative. She declares, “I want you to have the choice to chain yourself up in Souma. I want women to be out there and look mad and beautiful, to embrace the beauty in the madness. The chains bring out an alter ego in so many girls. They feel empowered.”
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Souma creates customised stand-alone pieces, not collections, “This is how I connect with people; they gift me ideas, I gift them chains. I like that they take me with them. By wearing my chains on their bodies and hanging my paintings into their homes, I become part of someone’s journey.” She also incorporates Pharaonic symbolisms into her ornaments, infusing the pieces with ancient symbolic energies, “There’s so much meaning behind them. They’re Egyptian, but they’re universal. By wearing them, I can speak spiritually without having to name or prove my beliefs.” Touching the Eye of Horus hanging from her ear chain, she explains that researching these symbols brings her closer to the history of her chosen home, “Wearing this helps me to embody peace, serenity, and avoid the evil eye.”
When asked about her experiences as a Black woman in Cairo's fashion world, Souma rolls her eyes, “Many Egyptians are racist. We can talk about that forever.” 2020’s global Black Lives Matter protests only sparked scattered race conversations amongst very progressive circles, but racial prejudice and violence remain mostly unaddressed in Egyptian society. Mainstream fashion mirrors the country’s anti-Blackness, sometimes using Black bodies for fashion editorials, rarely giving space for Black creatives to participate equally. Souma says, “People get confused that I’m Black and Libyan because they have no idea about Black people and what’s out there. I’m usually the only Black person in the room, which immediately turns me into someone who’s repping all Black women. Other Black women give me a lot of credit for that, and I’m happy to be a voice that inspires, but I want us to get to a place where they don’t feel like they need someone else’s voice to speak for them.” She recounts being at a shoot with a Sudanese model: “That girl was so submissive, she knew that she was only there because of her skin colour. I don’t want us to have to feel like that.” Souma makes an effort to not simply diversify a company’s look who otherwise has no Black people in their community. “I let my personality speak louder than my skin.” She laughs, “I’m happy that there’s no one that looks like me; Black women are so unique in this fashion world of white people. Race and gender are bumps on the road, but I’m just gonna keep driving.”
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by.sou.ma is not a jewellery brand, it’s not a painting brand, it’s Souma and all that she can be. In 2020, she created the Revival Editorial that was featured on KALTBLUT magazine. Revival was a reminder to witness and appreciate her own growth in order to step into her full power, “I realised that I had more to offer than I knew. I stopped disguising myself and my worth, now I realise rather than disguise.” She has expanded into painting and glass art, is dabbling in exciting video projects to document Black fashion in Cairo’s streets, and uses her art for social change. Currently, Souma is running a campaign to support the Palestinian cause through donating the profit she makes through selling her paintings. Those who want a piece of her creativity need to be quick as all her creations are personal one-offs. Souma closes with, “Just like people, my things come and go. I don’t get attached to things, it’s all about the journey and the journey always continues. I am always peeling layers.”
Through her art, Souma is multiplying herself and infusing Cairo’s madness with more beauty, one painting, one piece of jewellery at a time. Her mission is for women to realise and claim their powers. There is no freedom in conforming.