At home in Sussex and Cairo with creative director Cruz Wyndham

Cruz (right) with Goya Gallagher outside Anūt’s factory in 6th of October city, on the Nile’s west bank.

MARK ANTHONY FOX

By 2016, the time had come for a change and the couple decided to put down roots in London. George grew up at Petworth House, which, along with the West Sussex estate, he will one day inherit. But, keen to carve out their own life in the UK, they decided to buy a house in Shepherd’s Bush.

Cruz enrolled on an MA in Narrative Environments at Central Saint Martins, which provided what she describes as ‘the entry point into embroidery and textiles’. Her final project involved an embroidery collaboration with Latin American women based in London: ‘Somehow the threads of life took me there.’ That rich tapestry of threads also took her to Goya Gallagher, a fellow South American who previously co-founded Malaika Linens. Born in Ecuador, Goya has spent most of her life in Egypt and now lives between there and London. ‘We got along immediately,’ says Cruz. ‘I’d been missing that Latin American soul and she brought this wonderful new chapter into our lives.’

She is referring to Egypt, which Cruz first visited with Goya in 2020, just before she started working as a designer for Malaika Linens, where she began expanding the offering and working on collaborations with brands like Cabana. On that first trip, Goya took Cruz on a deep dive into Egyptian crafts, visiting the Malaika Linens factory, the workshops it uses and the many places that inspire her.

An appealing selection of fine linens, ceramics, glassware and other homeware on display at Anūt Cairo’s shop
in Zamalek, where a mural painted by the Cairo-based American artist Leah Kay Manatis enlivens the wall above the staircase.

MARK ANTHONY FOX

One of these is the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center, a tapestry weaving school on the outskirts of Cairo, which was set up in 1951 by the Egyptian architect of the same name, with the aim of getting local people to experiment. It was founded on a utopian ideal – that weaving can give people a voice – and his vision continues today at the centre, where 11 weavers make tapestries that are collected by museums across the world. ‘I’ve never seen such expressive and free depictions of life, and it made me want to cry,’ explains Cruz, referring to the fact that the weavers are given the freedom to create and are not formally taught. ‘Cairo has that same sense of possibility that China had and its functional chaos reminds me of home.’

Twenty years after co-founding Malaika Linens, Goya decided the time had come to start a new venture and who better than Cruz to be her wingwoman? ‘We both approach design as if it’s limitless. As well as being super creative, Goya has a great business mind,’ says Cruz. The brand launched in February 2025 with a party at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and a collection of linens, glassware, ceramics and accessories. Pieces are sold in its flagship store in Zamalek, on Gezira island, on the Anūt Cairo website and through Abask, which offers a curated edit.

House & Garden 'People Lifestyle' feature: 'Cruz Control'. Feature interviewing Cruz Wyndham, creative director of Anūt Cairo. Image of the homewares display at Anūt Cairo.MARK ANTHONY FOX

Cruz describes it as a ‘dream-big scenario’ and the hope is that the brand will go in many different directions. At its heart is the textile factory outside Cairo in 6th of October city, which employs almost 100 people – many of them women – to create its linens. Anūt also runs an embroidery school, offering courses for 25 women every few months, teaching skills such as hemstitch and Palestinian stitch. The factory operates in tandem with surrounding social housing, employing local women, who can work from home once they have completed the training. ‘We want to offer an environment in which women can earn an income while balancing family responsibilities,’ says Cruz.

Goya and Cruz collaborate with recycled glass makers in Old Cairo, potteries in Fustat and Faiyum, and the Cairo-based carpet specialist Kahhal Looms. The duo are also establishing a creative residency programme that will be held yearly on Goya’s traditional dahabiya sailing boat on the Nile, aimed at bringing Egyptian – and, eventually, international – artists and Anūt craftspeople together. Poet and photographer Mahmoud Khattab will launch the programme with an exhibition of his photographs documenting the potters with whom Anūt works, alongside a selection of new pottery pieces the artisans have made in response to his work. ‘Our plan is to mix different crafts and create products that are unique,’ says Cruz. ‘The idea is that artists might push the craft to the next stage.’

House & Garden 'People Lifestyle' feature: 'Cruz Control'. Feature interviewing Cruz Wyndham, creative director of Anūt Cairo. Image of a mural in the Anūt Cairo store.MARK ANTHONY FOX

Alongside all of this, Cruz has been juggling family life, often taking her and George’s two young children, Arturo, now three, and Ramona, one, along for the ride. ‘Bringing them all out to Cairo for the launch of Anūt was quite something,’ recalls Cruz, who has an infectious energy and keeps multiple plates spinning with apparent ease. West London is still home, in a house that is just a few minutes’ walk from George’s bookshop, Special Rider Books & Records, where he sells an enticing collection of used and new books, from stall 64 on Shepherd’s Bush Market. ‘It’s a huge part of our lives in London and we love being in an area that feels so dynamic,’ says Cruz.

The family have found the ideal counterpart to frenetic city life in a pair of gatehouses on the Petworth estate, perched on a hill in woodland above the town. Built between 1756 and 1763 by Matthew Brettingham the elder, they were commissioned by the 3rd Earl of Egremont for ornament and recreation. When the lodges, known as Gog and Magog, became available after lockdown, Cruz and George jumped at the chance to transform them into a weekend bolthole, working with architect Giles Jollands to restore them.

House & Garden 'People Lifestyle' feature: 'Cruz Control'. Feature interviewing Cruz Wyndham, creative director of Anūt Cairo. Image of Cruz walking past the Anūt Cairo store.MARK ANTHONY FOX

‘It felt like a perfect folly for a recently married couple,’ says Cruz, referring to the eccentric set-up that sees one lodge contain a kitchen, small dining area and mezzanine bedroom, and the other an impressively proportioned, double-height entertaining and sitting area with its original domed ceiling. ‘It is quite a challenging set-up with the children,’ she admits, referring to the fact that they camp out in the tiny dressing room off the bedroom.

Now, the place that was likely used by the 3rd Earl of Egremont to conduct many a dalliance – rumour has it he had 15 mistresses – is where children bounce on sofas and Cruz and George entertain guests below Flemish tapestries discovered in the attics at Petworth. That Cruz had their bedroom painted in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Cuisse de Nymphe Emue’ – named, as chance would have it, after the shade George’s grandmother had the family rooms at Petworth House decorated in – only adds to the story. ‘It is such a magical escape for us all,’ says Cruz. It turns out she is pretty good at casting her magic wherever she goes.

Anūt Cairo: anutcairo.com | See more of the house online here.