As anyone who knows anything about our ethos and that of our founder Saman Taherpour will be aware, Kiani Concept is a company built around foundations of history and pride. Those things are mirrored in everything we design, everything we create and every creative decision we make.
With those things in mind we were honoured to journey to Cairo at the end of July to be a part of a memorial service for our late king, H.I.M Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Shahanshah of Iran, along with more than 300 other very special invitees from all over the world; to share remembrance, to pay homage and to show our continued respect for a truly unique and much missed figurehead of our nation’s history.
This most inspirational and emotional of days started at the tomb of the late president of Egypt and truly loyal friend to the King, Anwar Sadat, then on to the beautiful Al Rifaiye mosque, the final resting place of H.I.M Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Shahanshah.
The Al Rifaiye mosque is a building that needs to be seen to be believed, it stands proudly overlooking the city of Cairo with its dome and minaret reaching far into Cairo’s blue skies, His Imperial Majesty’s tomb surrounded by golden candles, the most beautiful silken-cream floral arrangements and of course, those who have love and fond memories of the man himself.
Afterwards the entourage retired to the Hilton Hotel for an audience with H.I.M Empress Farah Pahlavi and Jihan Sadat, the wife of the late president of Egypt Anwar Sadat. Kiani Concept was honoured not just to be there but also to be granted the honour of displaying some of our designs and creations, the complements and interest they attracted from every single person present was nothing less than humbling.
The following day Kiani Concept was afforded another quite unique privilege; to be invited as special guests to enjoy dinner with the Empress and present our new designs to her personally as a gift, as always she was generous with her time and very pleased to see us, interested in our designs and always engaged with the things we spoke of. Spending time with such an iconic figurehead of all that we hold dear and gaining her approval for the things we design and create was simply a revelation.
As anyone who is fortunate enough to meet her will testify; she is so much more than an iconic figure of Iranian history, away from the crowds, cameras and the glare of publicity, she is also a wonderful, kind, warm and gracious person.
As anyone who is fortunate enough to meet her will testify; she is so much more than an iconic figure of Iranian history, away from the crowds, cameras and the glare of publicity, she is also a wonderful, kind, warm and gracious person.
And so our journey continues…from Cairo, the late King’s memorial and the cherished memories of our all too brief audience with Empress Farah Pahlavi we look forward again; to continue creating jewellery and accessories where the classical meets the modern, with a perfect blend of tradition and the future, to play a part in history.
