Tag: Morocco

Step out in style: Handmade Moroccan shoes

When designer Tory Noll visited Morocco, she found inspiration in a tiny, unassuming shoe shop in Marrakech. She got a few pairs of Oxfords made for herself, and then for her friends when they raved about hers. That’s how the brand TEN & Co was born.

Noll has cleverly mixed two different cultures by combining the classic British Oxford with the beautiful and original patterns and colours of Morocco. She and her team scour souks and auctions to find the best Moroccan rugs and blankets which are used to create the shoes. Each pair is then painstakingly handmade by a cobbler in Marrakech. No two pairs are the same, which adds to the charm and appeal of these soles.

Pink, black and sea foam stripes. Made of vintage kilim with rose pink suede detailing. Leather soles. $200
Pink, black and sea foam stripes. Made of vintage kilim with rose pink suede detailing. Leather soles. $200 (Pic: ten-and-co.com)

TEN & Co’s 2013 Spring/Summer collection has just been revealed. If the shoes themselves won’t blow you away, the photography by René Cervantes and styling by Noll and  Alex Brannian will.

TenCo_SS2013_LO2
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)
TenCo_SS2013_LO13
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)
TenCo_SS2013_LO8
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)
TenCo_SS2013_LO18
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)
(Pic: ten-and-co.com)

View the rest of the collection here.

Hassan Hajjaj’s rockstar portraits

Hassan Hajjaj’s portraits from Marrakech capture the colour and spontaneity of his childhood in Morocco. His sitters – ‘not just musicians but the snake charmer, henna girl, bad boy, male belly dancer’ – often wear clothes he has designed, standing in spaces totally covered by patterns he has chosen, and the photographs are eventually set in a frame he has constructed.

Click on an image below to view the gallery.

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This post was first published on the Guardian Africa Network.