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How Karim Adduchi Weaves His Moroccan Heritage into His Designs

Karim Adduchi’s She Has 99 Names collection

“I always wanted to showcase who I am instead who I wanted to be.” That’s the message Moroccan fashion designer and artist Karim Adduchi imbues into his intricate collections, which have made headlines for their border-less beginnings. “I work with two Syrian tailors, an Aleppo carpenter and an Eritrean embroiderer, who bring all their talents,” the 30-year-old explains to Vogue.me. “The result is a mix of genres, Berber fabrics, Russian embroidery and Syrian motifs, in ultra-modern cuts, which illustrate the complementarity of cultures and the magic of communion.”

The designer, who was born to tailor parents in Imzouren, northern Morocco, only launched his eponymous brand in 2015, but this year was named among Forbes‘ 30 personalities under 30 to follow. “It was an honor and completely unexpected,” said Adduchi of the accolade. “It has been an honor for me to highlight the power that fashion has to create communities and new spaces. It’s great to use fashion to create new bridges.”

Karim Adduchi photographed by Ruben de Wilde

The Amsterdam-based illustrator, painter and fashion designer debuted his first collection, She Knows Why The Caged Bird Sings, as a homage to his Berber roots. His most recent, She Has 99 Names, was a tribute to his “lost childhood” and the women who raised him, with Syrian and Eritrean immigrant artists brought it to share their craftsmanship. “I wanted to make a statement by showing a different and unique woman, the woman that has different phases and moments but always finds her strength,” said Adduchi of the line, which debuted in October 2017.

The designer, who graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, is now working on a new upcoming collection after a busy year “building foundations and creating awareness”. Adduchi’s work also featured in a recent art and design exhibition, Les Nouveaux Créateurs, at Paris’s Espace Commune. The designer showcased a work from each of his collections, demonstrating how the label graduated from “avant-garde to more classic nostalgia to an essential purity and simplicity.”

Karim Adduchi’s She Has 99 Names collection

While Adduchi has not yet revealed details of what his latest collection might entail, it is almost certain that his country of birth will be acknowledged in some way. Leaving Morocco aged 5 with his parents, the designer admits his childhood often weaves itself into his sartorial creations. “My heritage has always played a big role in my design process,” he adds. “The fabrics, the silhouettes, the Moroccan atmosphere is always present, but always combined with the vision that is beyond myself: the combination of transforming tradition into contemporary, this is how Morocco inspires me.”

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