Set the Table for Effortless Hospitality

The table is a blank canvas ready for your touch. A copper napkin ring gleams in the foreground, drawing your eye to bold turquoise and creamy white plates, all framed by intricate linen placemats. A still life made real.

Yet, it’s the people you invite to hold the teak flatware that make the sketch a masterpiece. A stunning tablescape immerses your guests in beauty so they can relax into your effortless hospitality. Setting the table makes room for the raucous laughter and shared secrets that bind you with the people and community you love.

Set Your Table with Malaika Linens

A dinner sized ceramic plate in a plum color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim

A table setting featuring marbled textiles, a coupe glass, and a dinner plates in plum

White tablecloth with surrealist planets, stars, and sky prints

Close up of white tablecloth with surrealist planets, stars, and sky prints

Malaika Linens

A needle and thread can change lives, but first you must learn to sew. Malaika was founded in Cairo in 2004 with two powerful goals: to produce luxurious Egyptian cotton linens while teaching traditional hand embroidery skills to Egyptian women and refugees.

Malaika’s self-funded embroidery school provides women with a clear path to sustainable income. Once proficient in this ancient art, they can go back to their villages to work from home, or stay in the Malaika factory where they create elaborate pulled-thread openwork and stitch colorful patterns inspired by the history and culture of Egypt.

Quadrille Placemat with dark blue border

Quadrille Placemat with dark blue border close up

a hand touching a translucent yellow vase, narrowing at the top with two small handles

translucent yellow vase, narrowing at the top with two small handles filled with branches, sitting next to bowls

Behind the Name: Malaika

We asked Malaika co-founder, Goya Gallagher, to share more about the meaning of the name of Malaika Linens.

Malaika, in Arabic, means a group of angels. We started out as an Egyptian bedding company and so sleeping with angels was the idea behind the name.

Since then, we have expanded our offering because we are passionate about handwork and the artisanal heritage of Egypt. We are fortunate enough to work with inspiring people in pottery, glass, weaving, brass and always looking to engage with different local crafts.

Behind the Name: Malaika

We asked Malaika co-founder, Goya Gallagher, to share more about the meaning of the name of Malaika Linens.

Malaika, in Arabic, means a group of angels. We started out as an Egyptian bedding company and so sleeping with angels was the idea behind the name.

White tablecloth with festival images hanging behind a feast

A large ceramic plate with a curved bowl edge in a warm pale brown color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim.

A dinner entrée in a large ceramic plate with a curved bowl edge in a warm pale brown color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim.

Egyptian Cotton

Goya shares why Egyptian Cotton is ideal to work with. "Egyptian cotton is famous worldwide because the yarn can be spun very finely while remaining strong. This allows for higher thread count, a crisp yet smooth touch and the ability to make a product that can last a lifetime. We strive to make pieces that will stay with you and hopefully be passed on to the next generation."

hand holding cloth napkin with red embroidered flower

Stack of cloth napkins with red embroidered flowers

Threads of Hope

"From the outset of Malaika, we offered tuition-free embroidery lessons with the idea that women would have an opportunity to earn an income while working from home.

We then decided to found Threads of Hope in an effort to expand the school while giving other brands the opportunity to incorporate embroidery into their work and in that way offer more work opportunities to our students.

Threads of Hope, managed by my partner Margarita, has become a community centre attracting Egyptian women as well as refugees from a variety of places such as Syria, Palestine, Sudan, and Ethiopia."

- Goya Gallagher

Threads of Hope

"From the outset of Malaika, we offered tuition-free embroidery lessons with the idea that women would have an opportunity to earn an income while working from home.

Threads of Hope, managed by my partner Margarita, has become a community centre attracting Egyptian women as well as refugees from a variety of places such as Syria, Palestine, Sudan, and Ethiopia."

- Goya Gallagher

Hand Holding Small Alabaster Candle Holder

A large shallow serving ceramic bowl in a graphite black color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim

A large shallow serving ceramic bowl in a graphite black color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim, filled with okra

Translucent Brown glass vase with black swirl going up the neck

Hand holding Translucent Brown glass vase with black swirl going up the neck

cream placemat with decorative festival images

cream placemat with decorative festival images and secret beach plate

Create Your Tablescape

The Mug, bitty bowl, breakfast bowl, everyday bowl, cake plate, side plate and dinner plate paired together in a cool white color featuring iron speckles

20% off!

A group of black, white and cream cutlery (salad fork, dinner fork, knife, soup spoon and teaspoon)

A group of black, white and cream cutlery (salad fork, dinner fork, knife, soup spoon and teaspoon) stacked on white and black bowls

The Ceremony of Food

East Fork is a celebration of the table and Malaika products bring that table to life. We asked Goya to describe the ideal table for us.

"Egypt is all about generosity and joy when it comes to hosting, so I imagine lots of food that everyone can dig into, lots of laughter and friends talking over each other! When hosting in Cairo, my go-to menu is Sharkaseya, a delicious and beautiful chicken dish with a creamy walnut sauce, served with Egyptian rice. On the side, stuffed vine leaves and aubergine mesa’a’ah and for dessert a rich date tart with pistachio ice cream."