Designer shopping in Africa
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A
Michi
Berber wabisabi is the design ethic at Michi, a creative partnership of Japanese Marrakesh resident Masayoshi Ishida and Marrakshi master craftsmen. Together they've created a look that combines natural materials, spare forms, and a whimsical sense of humour: woven raffia wing-tip shoes, a long-handled mug with a tiny orangewood spoon, flour-sack tote bags lined with basketry.
Even with your most winsome bargaining behaviour, Michi is more expensive than most souq shops: staff know you won't find this stuff elsewhere.
reviewed
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B
Mohammed Rida Ben Zouine
Saville Row tailors would bite their thimbled thumbs with envy at Ben Zouine's custom hand-finished men's shirts, curve-skimming linen dresses with handmade silk closures, and snappy hooded jackets in 'Moroccan cashmere' (thick combed-cotton flannel). Sidi Mohammed keeps tabs on the latest men's' suit styles from Belgium, and can make you a slimming, bitter chocolate brown suit with a sneaky orange lining that Dries van Noten might admire.
reviewed
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C
Kulchi
Now you know where Marrakshi clubbers get their chic looks. This local designer mixes trade-route African influences with a Marrakshi sense of humour: mod cocktail dresses in Senegalese Pop Art prints, sleek handbags made from recycled signage, and come-hither kaftans in diaphanous fabrics. Prices aren't cheap, but less than you'd pay for original designs back home. Check out the sister boutique inside Le Comptoir.
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D
African Lodge
Before you hanker after camel-saddle coffee tables and henna-painted orb table lamps at this ultramod African design showcase, look into shipping at the DHL office around the corner. The ingenious chandelier made out of vintage crystals and twisted industrial wire looks like something an itsy glitzy spider might have made, and is certain to make design aficionados curse carry-on restrictions.
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E
Côté Sud
The best-priced of the design shops along Rue de la Liberté, and the friendliest too. Downstairs, you'll discover hand-painted tea glasses, red glass chandeliers and tasselled table linens. Upstairs, you'll feel a powerful temptation to throw yourself into the embankments of pillows in white cotton cases gone wild with embroidered red flowers.
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F
La Rose
Designer fashion with a bonus: any of the styles you find on the rack can be modified to suit you. Prefer that hooded top in linen, or that dress with short sleeves? Consider it done. Better still: prices here are lower than you'd expect to find on this boutique street, and far less than chain-store retail back home.
reviewed
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G
Friction
Friction’s shop-window mannequins scandalise with underwear-as-outerwear; inside, it’s club music and cool clothes from Turkish and Scandinavian designers – still nothing you could wear on the street here, but welcome at better night spots.
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H
Mix & Match
Well made and locally designed, these separates for women in wool, silk and cotton are reasonably priced and often feature subtle Middle Eastern details. A branch two blocks south, at 11 Sharia Hassan Sabry, stocks larger sizes.
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I
Caudan Waterfront
The Caudan Waterfront is the place to go for trendy knick-knacks and designer boutiques, including Floreal, Maille St, Shibani, IV Pl@y and Habit.
reviewed