Nadia I. Alshawi
العربيةع CV

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia نادية الشاوي

Cultural heritage & operations leader, and sustainable fashion entrepreneur.

I spent eleven years in corporate operations, across supply chain, sales and process transformation, while training in Fashion & Textiles and in traditional arts. Today I run Sanayef, which turns traditional Saudi textiles into contemporary design, and I'm committed to preserving and sustaining the Kingdom's intangible cultural heritage.

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Portrait of Nadia I. Alshawi
11+years in corporate operations
2015founded Sanayef
5heritage training programmes
6professional certifications

Heritage in practice

Where the loom meets the ledger

Fashion, weaving and painting: three crafts I practise, each rooted in the Kingdom's living heritage.

Black satin top with sadu-woven bell sleeves and a silver pendant

Sanayef

Traditional textiles, redesigned to be worn today.

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Red and green warp threads stretched on a wooden loom

Sadu weaving

Trained at the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts.

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Al-Qatt Al-Asiri painting in a gold frame, signed Nadia Alshawi

Al-Qatt Al-Asiri

Colour and geometry from the painted interiors of Asir.

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Sanayef · Founded 2015

Heritage you can wear

Sanayef takes sadu weaving and traditional craftsmanship and sets them into capes, sleeves and cuffs made for everyday life.

  • Modernized traditional textiles and craftsmanship into contemporary, wearable designs.
  • Won an iconic Saudi design award recognizing the venture's heritage-inspired collections.
  • Built a community championing modernized traditional design and craftsmanship.
Explore SanayefSee the collection
Black velvet jacket with red sadu panels and long black fringeBack of a black cape opening onto a sadu-woven panelBlack velvet top with sadu cuffs, worn with layered silver jewellery

Selected work

Craft and career

All work

From the studio

Pieces and process

Open the gallery
Black satin top with sadu-woven bell sleeves and a silver pendantAl-Qatt Al-Asiri painting on canvas with coloured bands, triangles and a chequered borderSadu weavings with fringes and tassels hung across a windowBack of a black cape opening onto a sadu-woven panelRed and green warp threads stretched on a wooden loomAl-Qatt Al-Asiri painting in a gold frame, signed Nadia AlshawiBlack velvet jacket with red sadu panels and long black fringeRetouching a manuscript leaf with a fine brush at a workshop tableFramed Al-Qatt Al-Asiri painting with the Arabic words هوية حية at its centreFour looks from Sanayef combining black fabrics with red sadu weavingWoven sadu strips in red, green, white and brown with fringed endsBlack cape with silver brooches, worn with a red tasselled cord

Articles

Notes on craft and heritage

All articles
Woven sadu strips in red, green, white and brown with fringed ends

Essay · 5 min read

Reading a Sadu strip

A ground loom, three kinds of animal fibre and a handful of geometric shapes: how a Sadu textile is made and how to look at one.

Read the essayBack of a black cape opening onto a sadu-woven panel

Essay · 5 min read

From loom to wardrobe

Why heritage textiles and circular fashion belong in the same conversation, and what it takes to design for both.

Read the essayRed and green warp threads stretched on a wooden loom

Essay · 6 min read

What operations taught me about preserving crafts

Eleven years in sales and process work gave me habits that heritage preservation needs just as much: manuals, records and regular review.

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Working on heritage crafts, cultural programmes or sustainable fashion?

I'm glad to hear from anyone with a project, a collaboration or a question. Email is the quickest way to reach me.

Get in touchAlshawi.nadia@gmail.com