Abstract

This research aims to enrich the field of decorative designs for youth clothes. The decorative ideas have been inspired by some main symbols of Coptic arts. The study of Coptic arts can contribute to design development and innovation. This incorporates the cultural power of Coptic art as a vital starting point for new design ideas and the development of products. For this purpose, some methods of printing and embroidery have been applied. Twenty-one designs are presented here, and five of them have been implemented.

Introduction

The term "Copts" is equivalent to the word "Egyptians". It is derived from the ancient Egyptian word "Ha-ka-Ptah," i.e. "the house of the spirit Ptah," the most highly revered deity in Egyptian mythology (Atiya, 1991). Nowadays, this term refers to the Orthodox Christian People who live in Egypt. However, the Copts, as the successors of the ancient Egyptians, are defined as the modern sons of the Pharaohs. Coptic arts began in ancient Egypt about the third century BC after the opening of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a result of the conflict between ancient Egyptian arts and the other ones which are reaching Egypt with each new king continued since 30 BC until after opening Egypt by Muslims in 641 AD (Samir, 2004).

Coptic art is religious, public, and civil art born in the late stages of the Pharaoh's rule. It has special characters, different from other arts, influenced by Greek/Roman arts alongside Byzantine and ancient Far Eastern arts (Dale, 1993). On the other hand, it was influenced by the art of Christian civilization that spread in Egypt between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD. From the 7th century to the 19th century, Coptic arts were influenced by Islamic arts and vice versa (du Bourguet, 1971). Coptic art is a high-level beautiful art, depending on many kinds of ornaments, which appear in many examples of stones, metalwork, wood, ivory, writings (manuscripts), pottery, glass, icons, cloths, textile, as well as architecture; much of them survives in monasteries and churches (Sibley, 1981; Volbach, 1969; Wessel, 1965). The Coptic Museum in ancient Cairo has some of the world's most important examples of Coptic arts.

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The author is associated with the Clothing and Textiles Department, Faculty of Home Economics, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.