In the heart of Paris’s historic Le Marais district, a new cultural retail destination is reimagining what a concept store can be. Founded by Egyptian photographer and creative director Mariam El Gendy alongside cultural strategist Youssef El Sayed, Jihan has opened as a multidisciplinary platform dedicated to contemporary design, fashion, and cultural production from Africa and West Asia. Rather than functioning solely as a retail space, Jihan positions itself as a site for dialogue, exchange, and storytelling across regions that have long been connected through histories of migration, trade, and artistic influence.
Located at 6 Rue Charles-François Dupuis in Paris’s third arrondissement, the inaugural chapter of Jihan opened in June 2026 as a temporary pop-up that founders describe as the beginning of an ongoing city-to-city narrative. The project emerges at a moment when global interest in African and West Asian creative practices is growing rapidly, yet dedicated spaces that present these regions on their own terms remain relatively rare within Europe’s cultural and retail landscape.
For El Gendy, whose work as a photographer has centred on storytelling, image-making, and cultural narratives, the transition into retail represents a natural extension of her practice. She and El Sayed, who have collaborated creatively since their youth in Cairo before later working between London and Paris, conceived Jihan as a response to the absence of spaces that felt culturally resonant and intellectually engaged. According to the founders, the store was born from a desire to create a home for contemporary creative voices from Africa and West Asia that avoids both nostalgia and exoticisation.
The name Jihan itself carries layered meanings. Named in honour of El Gendy’s mother, it also translates as “the universe” in Persian and Turkish, reflecting the founders’ ambition to build an expansive world where diverse stories, identities, and creative expressions can coexist. The project seeks to foreground contemporary practices while acknowledging the complex cultural histories that shape the regions it represents.
Inside the space, visitors encounter an interdisciplinary selection spanning fashion, jewellery, beauty, accessories, homeware, and pantry goods. The inaugural presentation brings together established and emerging brands including Super Yaya by Rym Beydoun, Renaissance Renaissance by Cynthia Merhej, Paria Farzaneh, Rescha, Kotn, Kaia Olive Oil, Misaj, Diane V, and several other independent labels working across Africa, the Middle East, and their diasporas. The curatorial approach intentionally places these brands within a shared context rather than isolating them according to national or commercial categories.
The visual identity of Jihan has similarly been shaped through collaboration. Renowned photographer Dexter Navy produced the campaign imagery for the launch, while designer and maker Adam Gobran created the store’s custom metal display systems. Together, these elements contribute to a contemporary aesthetic that privileges materiality, storytelling, and cultural specificity.
Yet retail is only one dimension of the project. Central to Jihan is Worldly Matters, a parallel cultural programme exploring the relationship between commerce and culture through film, literature, music, publishing, and archival practice. The opening programme includes screenings in partnership with SHASHA Movies, interactive reading sessions developed with HIKMA, residencies with STORM Books, and listening sessions featuring musicians and DJs such as Cheb Mimo. Through these initiatives, the founders hope to transform the store into an active intellectual and cultural meeting point rather than a conventional shopping destination.
Social impact also forms part of the project’s foundation. From its inception, Jihan committed to directing five percent of its profits toward initiatives supporting women’s economic empowerment. For its first chapter, the platform is partnering with Egypt’s Misr El Kheir Foundation, supporting women artisans through training programmes and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
As concept stores worldwide increasingly blur the boundaries between retail, publishing, and cultural programming, Jihan offers a distinct model rooted in African and West Asian perspectives. By foregrounding contemporary designers, fostering conversation, and investing in cultural infrastructure, El Gendy and El Sayed are proposing a broader vision of what commerce can achieve: not simply the sale of objects, but the creation of community, memory, and exchange across geographies. In doing so, Jihan signals an important new chapter for African and West Asian design within Paris and beyond.
