Designers

Designer to Know: Moroccan Gem Amine Bendriouich

By Tess Talemwa | March 27, 2019

We head to Morocco this week in a city called Marrakech, there reigns this epic fashion designer known as Amine Bendriouich. He designs his collections like a storyteller. Every collection has a story built around it- sometimes dusted out of a history textbook and other times inspired by bird species.

His aesthetic lies between urban-pop, Moroccan cultural heritage with a touch of outside-the-box.

In an interview with Vogue he explains the historical precedent for unisex dressing. “There’s this story in the Sunnah [a book recording the life of the prophet Muhammad] about a man and wife so poor they only owned one piece of cloth. If he had to go out to the mosque, his wife would stay home unclothed until he came back. She would then wear the same cloth to the mosque upon his return,” he says. “The Prophet wasn’t shocked by this man wearing the same piece of cloth as his wife; he was saddened, though, that they were in such a situation of need.” He continues, “What they were wearing didn’t matter. So why does it matter today?”

As is the norm, good behavior or in this case, good design is rewarded. He’s earned a nomination by Arise Magazine Fashion Week in 2012 for Best Male Designer of the Year and won Audience’s Favorite Designer Award plus a Jury Special Prize presented by CREATEUROPE Fashion Design Awards in 2009 in Berlin.

Check out some of his awesome collections below

A sample look from his DNA collection

In Go(l)d we Trust collection was based on the stereotypes that represent Arab culture i.e. Oil, Petro-Dollars and Gold with the black silk stands for the oil.

This collection Berberline shows the evolution of his culture under the new Berlin influence. It also shades light on the many possibilities that arise when different cultures meet.