With winter essentially upon us, we’re turning our sights to cool, cosy clothing, which is exactly the aesthetic embodied in Aya Afify’s latest collection. The eponymous brand, started several years ago, epitomises sharp, on-point sophistication that’s been injected with a healthy dose of edge. They’ve managed to mix chic with eclectic and throw in a little boho vibe for good measure, always turning out pieces which are insanely covetable.

“When I started the brand in 2013, the first collection turned out so much better than I expected and so I kept going,” Afify explains. Fashion fever hit the designer darling early on but she was cautious about starting the brand. “I think I’ve had the passion for it since I was very little, but I did have this fear of starting something because of all the obstacles in Egypt,” Afify elaborates. “I’m always seeking perfection so anything less than that wasn’t gonna work for me.” But after interning at MaxMara for a month, where she says veering between departments truly helped her learn the ropes of the fashion industry, and then taking several courses afterwards, she decided to go ahead and do it. And, quite frankly, every piece is perfection unto itself.

The ready-to-wear high end brand prides itself on paying attention to every little detail but switches up the aesthetic for every collection. “Look, we don’t have a certain style – each collection is themed, inspired by something different,” Afifi says. Their latest endeavour, Strings Apart, grabs instrumental inspiration and features many pieces that revolve around incorporating leather cords. “The main idea of this collection are the leather cords – that’s why I called it Strings Apart, it’s reflective of an instrument, like the string on a guitar,” Afify tells us.

The FW 14 collection is a creative array of shredded leather, oodles of fur, and patchwork. But for Afify, “my masterpiece of this collection is the top where the whole back is leather cords,” (main image). Personally, we’re rather partial to the tailored, leather-insert jacket, the fabulous fur vests, and a boxy short sleeved dress with a section in the back dedicated to slivers of leather (all below).

The collection is also dedicated to celebrating the women in your life. “We thought – especially in terms of the shoot – that we wanted to give more credit to women,” Afify says, “At the end it’s women who stand by each other, who support each other – your mothers, sisters, girlfriends... Of course men have their role too! But women are just your source of strength.” We think it’s a lovely sentiment. We’re calling up our sisters as we speak to say we love them.