CATFISH OBJECTS is the Cairo-based studio blurring the lines between art and function. Founded by sisters Nabila and Khadija Rashed, the brand is known for its offbeat approach to interiors—think mirrors that double as sculptures, stools with personality, and lamps that tell a story.
Handcrafted in Cairo by Egyptian artisans and made with fabrics sourced from Morocco, Egypt, and the UK, each piece is one-of-a-kind, personal, and intentionally bold. But CATFISH is more than just a design studio—it’s a movement to loosen up the region’s creative scene, making it more accessible, more fun, and a little less self-serious.
For this edition of Creative Talks, KHAMSA sat down with the sisters to talk craft, Cairo, and creating objects that spark joy.
This is design with a wink. And we’re into it!
All images are courtesy of Catfish Objects.
١. Your pieces are like functional sculptures—colorful, curvy, and full of attitude. What’s the wildest idea you’ve ever had for a piece, and did it make it into production?
It may not sound crazy but designing a great chair has been challenging.
If you can make a chair that’s truly comfortable and visually interesting then you can make anything. We’ve experimented with a lot of chair designs, some of them looked amazing, but they weren’t pieces you could actually sit in for hours. So I’d say producing a chair has been wild because it takes a lot of craft, precision and a great understanding of proportion, and because of this it has been a challenge to achieve that balance between functional art/interesting design and real comfort.
٢. The name “Catfish Objects” is so distinctive. Is there a story behind it? Does it reflect your design philosophy?
When the brand first started, I was mainly making mirrors, and the name Catfish was meant to be ironic and lighthearted. It was like a playful take on vanity and the way we present ourselves online. Like the mirror as a prop we use to ‘catfish’ others on social media. I wanted the brand to feel self-aware and fun.
As the brand has evolved, I think Catfish has taken on new meaning. We still want the brand to feel playful and we are really interested in surrealism in design. We’ve already explored this through exaggerated proportions, like the elongated cone and sphere lamps but we want to take this further, turning unexpected everyday objects into homeware that make you pause and look twice, objects that play with familiarity by taking shapes or symbols we know and using them in an unexpected or slightly surreal way, so ya the name is still relevant and aligned with design philosophy, because we are building on this idea of Catfish as an illusion by creating objects that aren’t quite what they seem at first glance.
٣. Your designs feel like a love letter to Cairo—vibrant, layered, and a bit rebellious. How does the city influence your work?
I agree, Cairo is incredibly layered. It’s chaotic, full of noise, texture, and unexpected contrasts and contradictions. Every corner feels like an entirely different world which makes it really difficult to define exactly what it feels like to be in this city. Anyone who lives here or has visited will tell you that Cairo isn’t just one thing, it’s many things at once, and I think this same energy feeds into our brand. So while we care about shape, proportion, and form, we also want to embrace experimentation and play, we want to explore structure but also playfulness and spontaneity.
I think it sounds messy but the messiness is intentional, it’s not only reflective of our Cairo but also the different things we both like and are drawn to, even when they contradict one another.
And i think when these contradictions come up, Cairo becomes a really fitting reference point because it teaches us to embrace these contradictions, and in doing this, the pieces, like Cairo, start to feel more authentic Cairo has also influenced our work by encouraging us to think outside the box. Mixing textiles is a staple of Egyptian kitsch culture, being surrounded by this makes experimentation feel instinctive. Whether it’s combining unexpected materials, shapes or playing around proportion. This freedom to try out things feels rooted in where we’re from.
٤. The Vertigo Mirror is stunning. What was the inspiration behind its design?
The mirror was created for a collaboration with Zoubida, a Moroccan brand blending contemporary design with traditional craft. They were building an installation of a chessboard made from foam and traditional textiles which was exhibited at Somerset House in London. Originally, I was asked to design something that extended the chessboard concept and a checkered pattern felt like a natural starting point. But in true Catfish spirit, I wanted to incorporate a subtle twist by reimagining the traditional chessboard. That sense of distortion gave the piece its name: Vertigo.
The mirror was exhibited at Art 1-54, an art fair dedicated to contemporary African and Middle Eastern art. A Lot of the artists showing their work drew on references from living between different places. In Zoubida’s case, there’s an interplay between Morocco and London. Many MENA artists come from the diaspora or grew up away from their homelands. For CATFISH there’s connection to Egyptian culture, but also a fascination with British culture, particularly the unapologetic eccentricity of the fashion and creative scene. So this distortion of checkerboard design was also partly a way to reflect that blend of cultural references.
٥. Your Instagram is a visual feast. How do you use social media to connect with your audience and tell your brand’s story?
Thank you! Because the brand is still growing and hasn’t fully taken its full form yet on social media. It hasn’t been a key focus, even though we know that this is one of the most important elements of building and growing a brand. Ideally, we would like to use social media to invite curiosity about what we are making rather than overexposing. Personally I find myself most drawn to things when I’m curious about them, I really want to feel like I’m discovering something, I don’t want it handed to me. So I think that’s the feeling we want people to have when they come across our brand. We want it to be intriguing for sure, but we aren’t necessarily trying to convince anyone to want our products.
You either feel it instantly or you don’t.
To connect with the audience, we want to focus on the inspiration behind our pieces, whether that’s a great piece of fabric, a creator, or an artist that inspires our work. I think these are more interesting stories to tell, and through that, we can build a world and a connection with audiences who have the same eye and the same interests, which I imagine will naturally create that bond. But yeah, the overall strategy is to keep the audience interested without overwhelming them with information.
٦. How do you balance the bold aesthetics of your designs with functionality?
It’s definitely about trial and error. We’re still learning as we grow, we’re a small team of two and we’re sisters, which makes it pretty easy to be brutally honest with each other. So if one of us comes up with a super crazy idea and the other thinks it won’t work, we just say it.
I think what makes it interesting is that we each have really different takes on design, so together the result is a balance between something bold but also practical. But it’s definitely still a learning process. just trying things out, experimenting and being willing to repeat that process over and over again.
٧. If Catfish Objects were a song, what would it be—and why?
The first song that comes to mind is Cool Cat by Queen, I think it’s very CATFISH, or honestly, anything by David Bowie because even when his work is completely unconventional and experimental it still feels so him, and it always feels elegant and timeless.
That’s the kind of energy we want to exude, we want to create playful, bold products but always make sure everything is done with style and intention and that it always feels authentic.
٨. What’s next for Catfish Objects? Any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?
This summer, we are trying to diversify our product range with a small-batch collection of playful, smaller objects including some sourced collectible pieces. One of the objects we are working on is in collaboration with a MENA brand we love, that actually usually doesn’t usually work in furniture or objects, which will make the collaboration an interesting mix of two very different worlds.
