By integrating the Paris Semaine calendar in Paris this autumn, the label of Franco-Moroccan Charaf Tajer ventures beyond menswear. Further proof of the dazzling development of a brand that recently announced the arrival of a CEO and a fund-raising campaign.
While Morocco is currently experiencing a tragedy, and even if it’s not enough to console its inhabitants, we’re all the more keen to welcome the arrival of Casablanca at the next Paris Fashion Week, from September 25 to October 3.
The label, founded in 2018 by French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer, will be presenting models for the spring/summer 2024 season, targeting both men and women.
New CEO and fundraising
In a statement, the designer stressed that menswear was still an essential part of Casablanca’s DNA, but that “the womenswear category was a natural evolution”, opening “an exciting new chapter for the brand”.
This announcement comes as, in quick succession this spring and early summer, Casablanca announced an undisclosed amount of funds raised, followed by the appointment of Dutchman Frederick Lukoff as CEO. With this former head of Stella McCartney for a decade in London, but also of Courrèges, Paco Rabanne and Lanvin in Paris, the brand had announced “a key milestone” in its history, and indicated that it was preparing “to enter an era of ambitious growth and development”.
With the arrival of a new manager and this cash injection, Casablanca intends to expand its product scope, improve its digitalization and sourcing…But also to tackle a very important milestone for a fashion House: hanging its name on a first flagship in Paris in 2024.
“I’m delighted to be joining Charaf and his team to help accelerate Casablanca’s incredible rise in the world of luxury fashion. The brand universe Charaf has created for Casablanca is very compelling, impressive in its breadth and depth, and I love its positivity,” Frederick Lukoff emphasized at the time.
The new Jacquemus?
Is Casablanca the new Jacquemus?
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Like Jacquemus, who won the Lvmh Special Jury Prize in 2015, Charaf Tajer was noticed by the world’s number one luxury brand and awarded the prestigious LVMH Prize in 2020.
And since then, everyone has been highlighting the meteoric rise of this young man born in Paris to two Moroccan parents, who met in Casablanca in a couture workshop.
As with Jacquemus, this UFO’s success is due not only to his unique style, but also to his sunny, joyful, festive character, so much needed after the Covid trauma.
In just a few years, thanks to his creative energy and interpersonal skills, he was able to create the right networks and references, drawing on his experience in fashion, the world of nightlife and glitter, and the world of luxury.
Fashion and luxury?
In 2008, after studying architecture, Charaf Tajer and his high-school buddies set up a concept store, selling cutting-edge brands and a label named after their neighborhood: Pigalle. The streetwear brand, since taken over by one of the co-founders, Stéphane Ashpool, quickly made a name for itself in the sun. Among its customers was Rihanna!
Dix ans plus tard, Charaf Tajer a suffisamment d’expérience pour lancer sa propre marque masculine, Casablanca, à la fois plus personnelle, puisant dans ses racines mais aussi dans d’autres lieux invitant au voyage, et plus élégante. Il évoque ainsi le retour à “l’école de la beauté” après celle ”du cool”. Avec ses silhouettes chic mais toujours décontractées, ses costumes aux coupes impeccables, il s’inspire des Maisons de luxe. Ses soies imprimées et colorées, très présentes dans ses collections (chemises, pyjamas…), sourcées à Casablanca , rappellent ainsi les Carrés d’Hermès. Mais elles côtoient aussi son fameux survêtement en éponge, la preuve que Charaf Tajer ne souhaite pas se laisser enfermer dans une seule case. Son idée étant de célébrer “l’harmonie des cultures et la beauté du métissage”.
La nuit ?
Charaf Tajer is also known for having launched and run, for seven years, the Pompon, a club/bar on rue Château d’Eau (10th arrondissement). A place to party, but also to host numerous after-parties for major brands. And so to perfect his codes and knowledge of the milieu…
And since 2018, Charaf Tajer has been concentrating his forces on Casablanca. And that’s working out well for him: he already has over 300 points of sale around the world…and soon many more?
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Read also > JACQUEMUS, THE NEW MASTER OF RETAILTAINMENT
Photo à la Une : Casablanca
