Fertile Waters: Azza Fahmy and Julien Macdonald

Shawn Baldwin for TIME

A FRESH BREEZE: Fahmy and Macdonald have dazzled fashionistas by fusing tradition and glam

With a soft techno beat throbbing in the background, waiters glide about the room offering canapés with champagne or, for the pious, glasses of orange juice. Men in business suits or jeans mix with women, some wearing above-the-knee skirts, some in long dresses and head scarves. It's a typical soirée for Cairo's well-heeled set, yet tonight there's more than the usual Middle East-meets-West twist. The revelers are here to toast an 
 unlikely creative marriage, between Egyptian artist Azza Fahmy, who has spent decades reviving Arab jewelry traditions, and British designer Julien Macdonald, whose dresses are worn by London's party...

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