Sahil Siddiqui
Cairo, Egypt [August 2025] – At just 30 years old, Mohamed El Kahhal is proving that heritage is not something to preserve in the past, but a living, evolving force. As the fifth-generation founder of Kahhal 1871, Egypt’s oldest luxury rug house, Mohamed has embraced both the weight of tradition and the challenge of reinventing it for a new era.
Since taking the helm, he has transformed Kahhal 1871 from a legacy brand into a modern design house with a global voice. He has expanded its presence across the region, brought its craftsmanship into luxury hospitality projects, and forged collaborations with leading names in design and development, all while staying rooted in the artisanal mastery that has defined the brand for over a century.
For Mohamed, the future of heritage lies in relevance. “Heritage doesn’t have to be preserved behind glass,” he says. “It can move, evolve, and carry meaning for the future.”
This belief comes to life in the brand’s latest campaign, 150 Years Still Rolling, a bold visual statement that places skateboarders mid-motion on handcrafted Kahhal rugs. Shot entirely on film, it merges meticulous craftsmanship with a spirit of counterculture, creating imagery that speaks as much to today’s youth as it does to design connoisseurs.
But for Mohamed, this is more than a campaign. It is a signal of where he is taking the brand, into conversations that blend craft with culture, tradition with innovation, and Arab heritage with global relevance.
With Mohamed El Kahhal at the helm, Kahhal 1871 is no longer simply a guardian of the past. It is a contemporary design voice from the Arab world, confidently rolling heritage forward into the future.
Steering a 150-year-old brand into the future, the young design leader fuses craftsmanship,
culture, and contemporary vision, with his latest campaign capturing this bold evolution.
ABOUT
About Kahhal 1871:
KAHHAL 1871 is the luxury home of contemporary and heritage hand-knotted rugs, currently operated by the fifth generation of the oldest and most renowned manufacturers and purveyors of handmade carpets and rugs in Egypt.
About Mohamed El Kahhal
Mohamed El Kahhal is the fifth-generation leader and Managing Director of Kahhal 1871, Egypt’s oldest luxury rug house. With a deep respect for craft and culture, he is reshaping a 150-year-old legacy for a fast-moving world. Recently becoming a father, Mohamed is driven by the question of what kind of world – and brand – the next generation will inherit. His leadership blends heritage with fresh perspectives, collaborating across design disciplines to create work that feels alive and globally relevant while remaining unapologetically rooted in Arab identity.
