If you grew up in an Arab household, chances are you have a complicated history with the Zanooba. Also known as a shibshib, that infamous, flimsy house slipper that lived under beds, slid across tiles, and occasionally flew through the air with terrifying precision was a household staple, sure— but also, depending on the mood of your mother or grandmother, a disciplinary device disguised as footwear. Fast forward to 2025, and that same slipper is being reimagined as the most unexpectedly stylish shoe of the summer, thanks to Egyptian footwear brand Zee and its founder, Noureldin Kassem, who launched Z-NOOBA, a sculptural, street-ready reinterpretation of the soft-soled house slipper.
“The Zanooba has always been there— in every Egyptian home, regardless of class or background. It’s comfort, memory, heritage— and most of all, movement. That’s what Zee is all about,” says Kassem, who built the brand around the idea that movement deserves design that respects it.
This isn’t a gimmick dressed up in nostalgia or a viral moment engineered to get likes, but a reclamation of design and cultural memory. “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, or what class you belong to— the Zanooba was there,” Kassem adds. “In mosques, in homes, and everywhere in between. It moved through every part of Egyptian life, and in doing so, it became more than footwear. It became part of our collective heritage.”
This is what makes Z-NOOBA different from your typical summer sandal or trendy slipper. You’re stepping into something with history, with memory embedded in its sole. The original Zanooba, despite being one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous objects in Egyptian homes, was often dismissed as too ordinary, too domestic, even laughable. Kassem saw something else. When the Zanooba appeared unintentionally in one of their 2023 Mother’s Day shoots, it struck an emotional chord. “We didn’t sit in a boardroom sketching this out,” he recalls. “It showed up in a shoot, and people recognized something in it— a memory, a connection— and we listened. The rest was just common sense.”
With its smooth silhouette, matte finish, and comfort-first construction, Z-NOOBA feels like a natural evolution of a form that was always functional, but never celebrated. It still carries the slipper’s ease and familiarity, but strips away the shame. Now, that same slipper is making its way into galleries, cafés, city sidewalks, and Instagram feeds. “If it’s survived childhood, history, and five decades of Egyptian life— why wouldn’t it deserve a design upgrade?” asks Creative Director Tamima Hafez. “It’s familiar enough for your teta, but somehow now your ex wants a pair too. That’s the balance we like.”
That contradiction between old and new, intimate and elevated is what gives Z-NOOBA its staying power. It’s designed for the kind of movement most shoes forget: the anxious pacing during a voice note to your therapist, the barefoot shuffle between your bed and the kettle, the late-night rooftop dance nobody films.
The campaign behind the launch reinforces that ethos without being didactic. Shot by Omar Abo Laban and filmed by Mina Ezzat in a sun-washed studio in Mokattam, the visuals channel a raw, cinematic quality. Stylist Mahmoud Saad layers vintage Egyptian gossip magazines and 90s glam nostalgia with suburban attitude, while Art Director Maria Saba leans into symbolism without drowning in sentimentality.
Z-NOOBA’s quiet power lies in its refusal to compromise. It’s not trying to globalize the Zanooba or sanitize it for mainstream palatability. It’s made for those who live between languages, who exist in that blurry space between diaspora and hometown, who grew up watching Arab idols on grainy television sets and now scroll through their feed in another time zone. It’s for the ones who never really left, even when they did.
CREDITS
Photography: Omar Abo Laban
Videography: Mina Ezzat
Styling: Mahmoud Saad
Hair: Raheem
Makeup: Farah Aly
Creative Direction: Tamima Hafez
Creative Assistant: Alaa Ehab
Art Direction: Maria Saba
Digital: Kurt Galalah
Production: Bassant Franco
Models: Marwan Taelab, Paula Saba, Adham Ayman, Marcy, Layla Faheem, Raf El Gharbawy
