Charaf Tajer
Founder & Creative Director, Casablanca
The founder and creative director of Casablanca has managed to build buzz and snag big partnerships, including with New Balance sneakers and LVMH-owned Bulgari.
Charaf Tajer is the founder and creative director of Casablanca, a luxury fashion house known for its colourful silk shirts. The Paris-based label has collaborated with New Balance, Globetrotter, and LVMH-owned jeweller Bulgari (its first partnership with a major luxury house).
Tajer grew up in Paris’s Tenth Arrondissement. Of Moroccan descent, he also spent time exploring the streets of Casablanca. The self-taught creative director and designer got his start co-founding and working at streetwear brand Pigalle and Paris nightlife hotspot Le Pompom, then with French collective Pain Au Chokolat, Off-White and Supreme.
Tajer launched Casablanca in 2018, taking inspiration from his Parisian and Moroccan roots, with laid-back pieces in luxury materials. Casablanca started with menswear but has since expanded to womenswear, leather goods, jewellery, eyewear and footwear. The label gained traction with women in Los Angeles, worn by model-celebrities like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner who helped to accelerate the brand's rise.
Tajer was one of eight joint winners and finalists of 2020’s LVMH Prize. He was also a finalist for the International Woolmark Prize and Andam Grand Prize in 2021.
Casablanca has shown in Paris since Autumn/Winter 2019, and is stocked at retailers including Mr Porter, Net-a-Porter, Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette and Browns.
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