Casablanca—a new ready-to-wear line from Charaf Tajer, which is now in its sophomore season—showed a Fall collection that was both convincingly fun and a much-needed jolt of arid, languid heat in a fairly dreary Paris.
Tajer’s jump-off for the lineup had a heartfelt backstory: “My parents met at an atelier in Casablanca. They fell in love in the city,” he said. Casablanca is Morocco’s biggest metropolis, abutting the churning eastern Atlantic and teeming with color and charisma. Tajer channeled its beachside, chromatic verve while also layering in a pajama-esque sort of lover’s loucheness through his silhouettes. See: silk shirts with prints of palm fronds and star-filled skies or ancient columns, or knit jumpers with intarsia bowls of oranges or crustaceans. Examples of suiting and tracksuits weren’t as convincing—the construction seemed a little iffy—but these didn’t draw away from the sunniness elsewhere.
Other highlights included a best-in-show green car coat with golden clasp closures, terry sweatpants, and a print of Champagne on ice; Tajer clearly knows how to live the good life. (He’s about to host an outing, post-Paris, at Marrakech’s famous La Mamounia.) He summed it up simply before the show began: “I just . . . want to be known as a new go-to Parisian house.” He’s got a ways to go, but there’s promise.
