Mode of Morocco

From Marrakesh to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

For several curious reasons, I have always been drawn to Morocco—its deep reds, pinks, yellows and blues, its art and architecture, its fashion and even its smell. Funny thing is, I have yet to actually go there. The truth is that since hippies and artists invaded the country (well, mostly just Marrakesh) in the seventies, Marrakech became a trendy and sought-after travel destination and Moroccan culture, or mutations of it, has saturated our own culture.

An early pioneer to take inspiration from this art hub was none other than fashion’s favorite Parisian: Yves Saint Laurent. Although, he is originally from Algeria, it wasn’t until 1966 that he truly discovered the beauty of his North African roots. Yves Saint Laurent moved to Morocco with his partner Pierre Bergé and the two of them fell in love with the place, making the famously beautiful Majorelle Gardens, which is now a tourist site, their home.

Saint Laurent watched these exotic people closely and reworked traditional Moroccan dress like the kaftan, the jellaba, the jabador, the burnous and the tarbouch into new sleek silhouettes in vibrant colors that became his signature. These were unlike traditional kaftans; they were rare and if Moroccans wore them, they were only seen by husbands and covered by jellabas when the women left their homes. Much of Saint Laurent’s henna patterns and rich embroidery is taken from traditional bridal wear, and is symbolic of warding off evil from the bride.

Soon after Saint Laurent visited, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Led Zepplin, Vogue editors, models and, most notably, designer Jean Paul Gaultier flocked to Marrakech and returned to the West with powerful impressions. Gaultier was quickly sending menswear inspired by Moroccan culture down his runways. The rest of the design world quickly followed and by the 80s, Morocco was a clear reference for many artists and creative types— and continues to be one today.

2009 saw a comeback of 70s-style Moroccan trend, with jabellas, turbans and slouchy silhouettes everywhere from Ralph Lauren to Dries Van Noten. In 2010, Sex and the City 2 was released, and was kind of a bust, but more of an inspirations to fashionistas everywhere—with beautiful scenes from Abu Dhabi, which is not quite Morocco, but has a similar artisan luxury and the same Islamic-inspired design themes. In 2011 Stefano Pilati had model Arizona Muse pose in a 30s style villa for YSL’s Spring advertising campaign. Most recently, Jean Paul Gaultier recreated his Moroccan looks from the 80s in his Spring 2012 collection.

So, how can you get in on this trend and what’s the best way to work a Casablanca-inspired look or stylish caftan into your wardrobe? You need a relaxed silhouette: maybe a silky jumpsuit, beaded dress or embroidered scarf. Be sure you have the right colors: dark red, bright blue or yellow. Extravagant gold or turquoise, almost tribal-looking jewelry is a must. If you’re feeling particularly bold, try a turban.

Rastafashion: Dissecting a Style Tribe

Bob Marley and his reggae music is nothing less than mainstream. His face and message has been immortalized on T-shirts, posters and the like. I own a couple of Bob Marley T-shirts and I didn’t have to go far to find them—just a quick trip to my local Hot Topic or even Target.

We associate Bob Marley with peaceful rebellion and… well, marijuana use. However, for Bob Marley, marijuana was less than a leisure activity—it was a part of his religion. It is used for religious meditation, to heighten the sense of community with each other and God. Among Rastafarians it is commonly referred to as “wisdom weed,” “holy herb” or one of several slang words. Their dialect, known as “lyaric” is a rejection of English, which they consider to be a colonial language. The Rastafari movement, whose followers are best known for their thick, long natty dreadlocks and signature color combination of green, gold, red and black.

We usually think of these as “Jamaican colors”. Although this movement is rooted in Jamaica, these are the colors of the Ethiopian flag as it was during the 1930 reign of King Halle Selassie I, believed to be a reincarnation of God, or “Jah”. Rastafarians commonly refer to Jah as “I and I” to signify the unity and equality of man and the Holy Spirit. Their main source of scripture is the Bible, interpreted in an Afro-Centric way. They believe that their God will save their people from slavery and exile and return them to the holy land Zion, Africa, and more specifically, Ethiopia.

Several proponents of this movement, including Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley have been highly political figures. They revere Jesus Christ, but believe that Europeans of Babylon corrupted his teachings. Thus, they reject abortion and contraception seeing it as a way for Europeans to control the black population.

As part of their religious beliefs, they follow a strict “I-tal” diet, meaning natural and clean, which restricts them from consuming pork, alcohol, milk and coffee, which are impure. In accordance with the Bible, they do not cut their hair and instead allow it to grow long and coil it into dreadlocks.

This is a hairstyle that might look familiar—blonde renditions of it were seen on the 2012 runways of MaxMara and more recently, Chanel. In the last couple of years we’ve seen Chanel Iman sport green, gold and red tie die in a Rastafarian inspired Blumarine collection and Rasta hats on models at Gwen Stefani’s Fall 2011 L.A.M.B. collection and on superstars like Rihanna. She was seen wearing one and carrying a purse with a jeweled marijuana leaf on it.

Although the mainstream public can sometimes misconceive the intentions of the Rastafari movement, it is music moguls like Bob Marley, his sons and even Rihanna, to some extent, who have molded this young, international movement.

Yoko Ono: Music Muse & Style Icon

In 1966 Beatles star John Lennon stepped into Yoko Ono’s art gallery where he met her for the first time. She handed him a note that simply said, “breathe”. From this moment on, this elegantly outrageous woman has inspired so many intellectual, political and creative minds to this day.

Avant-garde artist, musician and peace activist—love her or hate her, you can’t deny the significant influence of Yoko Ono on pop culture today. Her feminist and humanistic influence over music is uncanny. Just as she inspired lover John Lennon to write Imagine, a Beatles favorite, she has inspired fashion in every way from runways to street style for the last four decades.

Although her style has slowly evolved from her 80s shield style Porsche sunglasses to the androgynous, simplistic, well tailored suits she wears today, it is her wildly unkempt hair and floppy 70s hats that has remained her signature and seems to resonate the most with young hipsters of our times. One thing that has remained consistent: her love of hats and all-black, all-white ensembles. Don’t tell me you can’t see the blatant similarities between these paparazzi shots of her with hubbie John Lennon in 1969 and current street style photos.

2011, especially, was an ode to Ono on the runways. The 70s trend was everywhere from Marc Jacobs in New York City to Roberto Cavalli in Milan and this trend is still trickling through mainstream and fast fashion outlets now.

Young successful designers like Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler claim Yoko Ono’s spectacularly long hair and millinery of the sixties and seventies as inspiration for their designs. There seems to be something special about Ono’s restless independent spirit that attracts people to her (Nelson). Similarly, Lady Gaga makes it known that she is highly influenced by Ono, in both her music and fashion. The two controversial artists even performed together in Los Angeles in 2010. That’s right Gaga fans, you have Yoko Ono to thank… partly.

Yoko Ono’s job description extends to so many things, including professional muse (how’d you like to add that to your resume). In 2009 she collaborated with designers from Threeasfour, who happen to be buddies with her son Sean Lennon. For their Spring 2010 collection, they drew prints and the soundtrack from Yoko Ono’s art and music.

In this instance, Ono’s influence on fashion was quite literal. As was her influence over collections from Gucci, Emilio Pucci and even American Apparel. In most cases, however, many of us emulate her style unintentionally, almost as if she has become an integral part of our culture.

Black is Back: Targeting the African American Market

With Obama in the white house, Oprah Winfrey with her OWN network and fabulously gorgeous models like Chanel Iman on the pages of Vogue, it couldn’t be more obvious that companies must realize the incredible presence the African American demographic and the buying power that they have: $1 trillion annually. If Black America was a country, it would rank 17^th largest in the world, just before Australia.

After the 2008 election, African Americans gained significant cultural pride and by seeing more positive image of themselves, became hopeful and more likely to spend money on luxury items to celebrate their accomplishments. Who wouldn’t want to imitate First Lady Michelle Obama, or “Commander in Chic,” as former Essence Magazine editor Mikki Taylor so cleverly put it.

African Americans have much more brand awareness than the average consumer. Women are feeling particularly empowered by success and treating themselves. These women are gatekeepers; they are three times more likely to be head of their household and make buying decisions compared to the general population and are indulging in luxury cars, jewelry, fashion, personal services and technology.

Speaking of technology, 25% of African Americans use Twitter—a very high percentage, higher than any other race in the country. Black America is very digitally connected. They are more likely to own a smartphone, to click on smartphone ads, watch video, use apps and manage their finances on their smartphone. As merchandisers, especially in the South where many African Americans live, this is vital insight that we must take to help us tweet wisely.

Another media outlet that African Americans pay attention to is television. What exactly are they watching? TBS, TNT, VH1 and CNN. These are mainstream channels and because Black America is a mainstream audience, it is important to treat them that way and not over-target. For example, black casting is not enough; characters and models must be culturally relevant and also diverse, since black skin tones, body sizes and hair types are extremely varied. These consumers must be able to see someone with similar characteristics rocking the product before hopping on the bandwagon themselves. Another mistake is when advertisers use urban slang or hip-hop music for unrelated products like food or retail.

So how do we sell retail to this market? Perhaps we should look to current African American fashion icons. As much as I hate to love Tyra Banks, I can’t deny the fact that she is a cultural icon and even a household name, along with other black models like Alek Wek. And this market is not restricted to women’s wear. One of my favorite street style blogs, Street Etiquette, features two style savvy black men living in New York: Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs. Another one of my favorites, rapper Kanye West recently launched his own (unfortunately underwhelming) fashion line. And although it was not well received, it is an understatement to say that high fashion is taking cues from mainstream African American musicians like him and his “Watch the Throne” counterpart Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé.

Shuttle Stop Street Style

What I absolutely admire about Denola is that he is constantly breaking the rules of what we college students have deemed to be a socially acceptable dress code (casual T-shirts and Nike shorts). My mother always told me it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed, but on days like today when I have exams and a million things to worry about, fashion is not my number one priority. 

Denola, on the other hand, doesn’t dress a day without a bow tie or blazer for me to gush over. Not to mention, he is quite confidently rocking those red jeans, which seem to be a red hot trend right now. One thing he’s wearing that I haven’t really seen anywhere else lately is those John Lennon-esque round sunglasses. Don’t know if I’d be able to pull them off but he is definitely making them look good! Lastly, I must credit his bags– YSL gym bag and Kenneth Cole messenger.

See this post on PresiOsoForecasting.com