Sharif grew up in Cairo, Egypt where his family operated a leather manufacturing company founded in 1827. Sharif moved to New York City in 1974 where he took a job with the exotic handbag company Finesse, before moving on to join the legendary Morris Moskowitz.
After absorbing everything he could while working for these handbag giants, Sharif founded his own company, Sharif Designs, Ltd in 1979, which he built into the largest American handbag manufacturer by the late 1980s.

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