GREATEST: Charaf Tajer
The Parisian fashion designer shares the journey that informed his brand Casablanca, a poetic ode to his Moroccan origins and a love letter to French heritage.
Although Charaf Tajer may be known to some only for his most recent venture with lux-meets-leisure menswear brand, Casablanca, the French creative director has been a veteran of the cultural scene for over a decade. The dazzling success of Casablanca—finalist of the LVMH 2020 Prize and finalist of the International Woolmark 2021 prize along with a hit collaboration with New Balance, all under the brand’s first 24 months—is the continuation of Tajer’s remarkable career that started in the late 2000s in Paris.
Tajer’s trajectory has been instrumental in propelling Paris as the culturally rich, diverse and global city that it is today when he and a group of friends embarked on a journey together with Pain O ChoKolat. The cult Parisian collective broke down barriers of class, race, sexuality and style to create a melting pot of different crowds that redefined Parisian culture, best experienced through their legendary block parties, cultural events and cult nightclub, Le Pompon.
Drawing inspiration from France’s rich history along with his Moroccan heritage, Charaf carries what he has always done with all of his projects by infusing his signature idealist spirit into his brand.
Casablanca is named after the Moroccan city where your parents met and the frequent summer vacations you spent there when you were younger. Are those your first memories of fashion?
They are one of my first memories of fashion indeed. The vibrant community I saw during those summers in Casablanca represented a symbol of freedom to me. The way people in Casablanca approached colors by wearing such bright tones gave me the impression that they were living as if it was their last day. Being born and raised in Paris, I never saw this approach to style before. It was all very colorful but chic at the same time—it looked like freedom to me.
Casablanca isn’t your first venture. What did you do before launching the brand?
I started with the collective Pain O ChoKolat around 2007, which was a collective of artists organizing events that then gave birth to Pigalle and then Le Pompon.
My entire trajectory was directed towards giving different moments to people. I like the idea of gatherings because sometimes we can be divided by the color of our skin. From a personal standpoint, that is something that I have suffered from and realized, quite late in my life, that I am Arabic. To me, the notion of race didn’t exist and I became conscious of my own skin color when I wanted to go to clubs or when I was looking for an apartment and all that. All of a sudden, I was confronted with something so archaic that was contradictory to the main values of France: liberté, égalité, fraternité [liberty, equality, fraternity]. In theory, we were together, but in practice, I started to realize that people from immigrant backgrounds were discriminated against. Racism really hurt me when I was younger, and so I developed this desire to bring people together by putting on events in reaction to everything that was unfolding.
Throughout my career, the one thing that has been important was this idea of bringing people together and that's why I’ve always loved throwing parties. It is also why Pain O ChoKolat’s parties were so diverse and eclectic—not only musically speaking, but even in terms of who attended the parties. All the [different] tribes came and partied together, from skaters to punks; from fashion names to people in hip-hop. All races, all sexualities, all tribes.
All the [different] tribes came and partied together, from skaters to punks; from fashion names to people in hip-hop. All races, all sexualities, all tribes.
Charaf Tajer
How have you continued this approach of bridging the international gap into Casablanca?
The international aspect is very important to me, even with the name: Casablanca. It’s a city in Morocco, with a Spanish name and a French colonial past. So, once again, Casablanca is the incarnation of that melting pot idea.
With Casablanca [the brand], I wanted—maybe for the first time as a French person—to associate something that sounded poetic to my North African origins.
Going back to before Casablanca, what were the events you organized with Pain O ChoKolat that you are the most proud of?
[I’m most proud of] the block parties and the “party” aspect in general. Pain O ChoKolat was a school to me in a certain way, learning how to produce events and working with friends. Sharing such incredible moments with friends is always something that I’ve enjoyed and this is something I’m trying to continue with Casablanca.
An event that stands out to me is one of the first that we put on together in 2006. We invited two Japanese brands to show their clothes in Paris and sell them. We also brought along a well-known Japanese photographer, Yone, and threw an enormous party at the (now defunct) club Paris Paris. It was incredible to be able to host a party there at the time and it then became one of the locations of Le Pompon, making it come full circle.
This wasn’t the first event we did with Pain O ChoKolat, but it crystallized everything we loved: fashion, art and culture in general. It positioned us in a unique way where we invited international guests to Paris to explore that aspect of the capital’s nightlife. Places like Le Baron and Le Pompon became synonymous with the fashion scene later on.
Originally, we were [considered] outsiders, but we managed to infiltrate that world. When I think about it now, we were the Arabs who weren't allowed inside [those] clubs, so for us to then become nightclub owners and to have brands that are showing during Paris Fashion Weeks is crazy.
You also have a background in architecture. How does that inform your approach to fashion?
There is a direct architectural influence in the way I design at Casablanca in the proportions, colors and materials of the clothes. Silk is a way for me to explore within the scope of France’s fashion heritage. For me, fashion is one of the biggest cultural landmarks and it so happens that Paris is the epicenter. The most spectacular expression of fashion is womenswear, which is possibly my main source of inspiration. I like to play with the codes of my Parisian heritage as well as that of womenswear and infuse them into menswear, and I think by doing so, we bring something new.
We are feminine and yet very masculine at the same time. Men can be masculine and strong by revealing soft and poetic aspects of themselves. The idea of coupling femininity with weakness is such a monumental mistake, and in my vision, the strength of men is revealed when showing a softer side.
The way you work with silk is also synonymous with prints, which are a prominent aspect of Casablanca’s aesthetics. What does the print process entail?
We have two full-time painters, Quentin Bideau and Gard Diop, and all of our prints are done in-house. We always start with a sketch, a preliminary drawing and a vision.
The idea of a shirt is a bit like a memory for Casablanca. Our prints are never just “a landscape,” they always represent a very precise moment [in time]. Casablanca prints are designed in relation to nature or architecture, as though we’re trying to portray an ideal moment on them. Idealism is the movement by which we want to be part of, which is not to be confused with utopianism. What I mean by that is, our prints carry that vision to be part of nature in an ideal manner, a vision where men and nature are in communion with each other.
The fact that you work with full-time painters is also a part of the French luxury heritage.
It’s a handmade approach that luxury houses have always had. There are brands that work perfectly with digital print designers, which I fully respect, but I’m very much into the detail and handcrafted process. I can only succeed when I work with painters. The distinct quality of Casablanca is linked to the fact that we create our prints and our own fabrics ourselves. I’m not saying this for Casablanca in particular, but generally speaking, if you use something exceptional in your creations, your results will also be exceptional.
Casablanca is undoubtedly a Parisian brand. How does Paris inspire you and how would you describe the Parisian identity?
The spirit of Paris is rather subversive and rebellious by definition as we have a well-known revolutionary history. Combine rebellion, revolution, extreme beauty and luxury together and you have the Parisian spirit.
To me, the Parisian identity has always been in motion. The people of my generation and myself included have the mission to update that identity. It is important that identity always evolves, otherwise it dies. Casablanca is very Parisian, but we also propose something that is new. Paris has always been in movement, with different waves and different cultures. This is the strength of big cities. Paris is, after all, a major cultural center and six times a year, the entire world would come to Paris for Fashion Week. So naturally, we have influences from everywhere and we Parisians also learn to communicate with the rest of the world.
Our prints carry that vision to be part of nature in an ideal manner, a vision where men and nature are in communion with each other.
Charaf Tajer
Paris has also become an important city for sneakers over the past few years. Do you feel close to sneaker culture?
I’ve always been interested in footwear in general, not just sneakers. However, I feel close to sneaker culture because I’m part of a generation where sneakers carry a lot of meaning. I wore sneakers with brands like Lacoste, Hermès and Cartier. To me, that style also forged the Parisian identity and this image of the youth from poorer neighbourhoods wearing Lacoste with Air Maxes—it’s much more profound than it seems.
The appropriation of these style traditions by these youths has a direct link with the France that we love and with the brands that encapsulated a certain vision of “success.” Doctors and lawyers were wearing Cartier sunglasses, so we wore Cartier sunglasses. Lacoste represented the bourgeois that played tennis and so, we wanted to be that person too. We wore Hermès scarves because it reminded us of the old ladies that wore these scarves as a symbol of serenity and success. We wanted to connect with that world, so we dressed like them. We mixed it with sneakers because it resonated with our personalities with something more sporty, more relaxed. This style signified a lot back in the day and continues to impact the intellectual spheres and fashion in general here in France.
Casablanca also collaborated with New Balance this year. Could you tell us more about this pairing?
New Balance is a brand that I’ve loved for a long time. I really wanted to do something exceptional that was out of the ordinary and propose something that wasn’t just an exclusive colorway. They told me that they had something new and sent me a prototype that differs quite a bit from the final design because of everything that we’ve done with it. We worked on the design, the colors and the message that we wanted.
We called that pair ‘Idéaliste’ to say that we have an idealistic vision of the word, which goes back to what I was telling you earlier about [Casablanca’s] prints: our idea of the world is an idea of betterness; an ideal version of the world.
For me, New Balance also reminds me of grandpa shoes, like the shoes that Steve Jobs used to wear. If there is a sneaker brand that is intellectual, it’s New Balance. I wanted to expand on that with our collaboration with New Balance and I’m super proud of the resulting pair. I’m so surprised by how much people liked it. I didn’t think that there would be such a positive reaction to it. so I’m extremely happy.
You’ve explored architecture, nightlife, culture and now fashion. What is next for you?
Art is always a message of bringing people together. If you do a painting, even if it’s extremely dark, it still is a message to others. It is outreach. Whether it’s music, fashion or nightlife, I put things into forms.
All these disciplines are the same thing for me: the expression of a man to the world.
INTERVIEW: ERIC HERVILLARD
PHOTOGRAPHY: CAL MCINTYRE
LOCATION: SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM