Misfit is Dressing the Artists You Stream & the Streets They Came From

When I hopped on the call with Kareem Nagiub he told me that he got my first text about this feature mid-party. “So the hype was multiplied,” he laughs. It’s fitting, really. Misfit, the Egyptian streetwear brand he founded at twenty-three was built for nights like that, where bodies press close, where the air smells of sweat and smoke, where someone in the crowd (or on the stage) is probably wearing one of his stitched-together creations: apocalyptic trousers that look scavenged from a dystopian future, shredded knits with holes in all the wrong places, futuristic cutouts, pockets, pockets, pockets, and jackets cut like armour and patched like mosaics.

At the centre of it all is a logo that resists a single reading. Some see a bat, others a butterfly, a heart, a pair of wings. Kareem worked on this logo for six months so you can bet he likes that ambiguity, and it was in fact very intentional. “It’s always been a shapeshifter,” he says. Like the brand, like him. Misfit is a statement of identity, a refusal to conform, a celebration of the outsider. “My whole life I felt like I didn’t fit anywhere. So I made a place where that wasn’t a problem; a representation of my identity.”

Two years ago, that place began as a handful of pieces and a vision. Today, Misfit is woven into the fabric of Egypt’s rap scene. Kareem’s clothes have appeared on almost every major name in the rap scene—Lella Fadda, Lega-cy, Marwan Pablo, DizzyTooSkinny—and on a rising generation of artists who treat his designs like second skin. Most recently the viral sensation music video of Do You Love Me? Fares Sokar and Saint Levant dripped in pink and leather mosaics, with misfits' signature shapeshifter logo.

The culture in question is in flux: a new Egypt, defined by a generation with little patience for rules. Misfit’s pieces mirror that energy. They’re stitched together from multiple fabrics and textures, clashing like fragments of different worlds. One pair of jeans might be built from five separate denims, their seams raw and visible. Chaos can be beautiful. A leather vest might carry pale pink embroidery that hovers somewhere between skeletal wings. It’s streetwear, yes, but one steeped in symbol, story and quality.

Misfit’s futuristic edge is anchored by an old-world foundation. Kareem comes from a long line of fashion makers: his great-grandmother and mother both worked in the trade, and today his family runs Elevate Fashion Hub, a Cairo atelier producing work for international brands. Misfit is the rebellion that grew from those roots. “I grew up surrounded by craft, you could say it’s my DNA” he says. “I wanted to make something that felt like me.”

That desire for individuality is why Kareem’s approach to business is as selective as his design process. Misfit may have dressed many rappers, but Kareem doesn’t chase numbers. “I see Misfit like a luxury brand,” he says. “I want everyone to know it, but not everyone wears it.” Pieces are produced in small runs or one-off commissions, sold directly to those who understand the brand’s language. It’s a strategy that’s turned scarcity into status, positioning Misfit as an underground luxury street wear house with plans to introduce more innovations such as couture in the near future.

Behind the scenes, the work is relentless. Building a facility capable of producing Misfit’s intricate, experimental pieces in Cairo hasn’t been easy. “Streetwear here is a system we’re having to invent as we go.” From sourcing unconventional materials to training artisans in new techniques, every step has been trial and error. And yet, he insists on staying local. “If Misfit goes global, and it will, it’s going to do so with Egypt at its core.”

That global moment may be closer than it seems. Later this year, Misfit will shoot a new campaign in Milan, a first step toward the international stage. Kareem hints at a runway show to follow, though he’s tight-lipped on details. 

As our conversation winds down, I ask Kareem if there is more he wants to share, more itty-bitty details “I feel like you know enough,” he laughs, leaving me with the distinct sense that Misfit is a movement in motion…