Casablanca Profile words by Jess Bailey
The Eternal Vacation of Casa Casablanca
Not unlike a classic and crisp Casablanca attache case, Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of the fashion house, inspires a similar desire to whisk yourself away on a stylish, around-the-world tour. As long as you remember your hacienda sunglasses and custom playing cards, that is. Such is the irresistible sunny aesthetic of Casablanca, founded in 2018, quickly establishing a stratospheric rise in undoubtedly one of the fashion industry’s quickest and deftest leaps into the big time to date.
This is partly due to its founder’s endless optimism and driving force: “I want people to see things through an optimistic lens – have people dream bigger.” Casablanca leads by example, creating collections every season that are, unusually, readily available: “I always felt very frustrated to find that I liked something on the catwalk that I couldn’t find in the store.” If you’ve seen something at his show, you can own it – such is the brand mission statement: “The world of Casablanca has to be represented in the catwalk but also in the shoots and the streets. It has a vocabulary.”
And fluent as it is in a rich symphony of hues and aesthetics, Casablanca is also synonymous with ‘hip luxury’- a tricky balance to strike, achieved with time-honored methods repurposed: “We’re always starting with a story and a geographic location. In this way, we have muses.” indeed, every collection, every show is theatre: a universe that Tajer and his talented team execute with precision: “what we’re building here isn’t a brand, it’s a house. That means what we have to do is detail everything and micro it all, which is great, but we need to install everything for it to become a house.”
This work, a marriage of earth and splendor – practicality and made to measure, is a magic trick managed twofold: “My sense of proportion, comes from Paris, but my sense of colors is from Morocco: both together give us Casablanca.” These two entwined aesthetics speak to the allure of Casablanca’s garments but also to its philosophy: “The headline of the brand is looking at the beauty of the world.” Collections are a whistle-stop tour of geographical sights through Casablanca’s luxe lens. Indeed, SS24 is ‘Day of Victory’ is a self-professed love letter: “I’m a proud African, and I want to make sure that people understand there are so many languages and cultures – this time I chose Nigeria because the last seventy years Nigeria gave us so many artists, musicians…its all fantastic and I feel like its normal to pay tribute. I keep talking about Africa in my work, because we wanted to show that Africa is the future.”
This desire to shake up the industry is apparent in their portfolio of collaborations, a cabinet of curiosities that vary from giants Bulgari and New Balance to the niche but zeitgeist Air Up – the flavored water bottle brand: “We have a world that is very defined, that’s the beauty of us, we can collaborate with any brand, as long as they’re a leader – one of my favorites is Caviar Kaspia, Paris’ oldest caviar restaurant – we did our own spoons, jars, a collection – and we put on an amazing dinner!”
But don’t go running away with the idea of yet another luxury brand that’s too high to reach for – Tajer’s own beginnings, born of Moroccan parents settling in Paris, is a true coming up story, complete with its struggles: “as a Moroccan, a North African, it’s very hard in Paris to find a job, apartment, entry to any club: I felt like an outsider.” Perhaps that’s why Tajer is keen that his influential brand is the right potion of aspiration, luxury, and inclusivity: “I am the witness of myself doing it. I grew up without any examples of me – I had a need to see designers, architects that look like me.”
Casablanca only intends to climb higher – in only five years, it has attracted celeb endorsement, illustrious collaborations, and religiously attended catwalk shows. In 2024, Tajer knows his bulls-eye: “I cannot speak about it yet! But it’s been a lot of hard work. Paris is like the Silicon Valley of fashion, and if you grow up there, you want to be the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, you know? We want to be the next Hermès or Chanel. Which is a huge dream, but it’s also the purpose of my life – bringing opportunity to others. We’re building a house.”
And what a house it is – full of daring, character, and variety. Beautiful, practical, aspirational, and attainable – these little dichotomies work in harmony, every item meticulous – from the trainers to the caviar jar – everything has its place and sparkles in your attention. This is a force with true staying power. Long live the House of Casablanca.
