For the second time this week, a quintessential Parisian café—specifically, the terrasse at Café de Flore—was re-created as a runway setting. But where the ambience at Vuitton played up the whimsy, tonight’s Casablanca show shepherded people to the picturesque grounds of the Musée de Montmartre where, a century ago, artists lived, created, and caroused. Casablanca’s founder, Charaf Tajer, happens to know a thing or two about hosting epic get-togethers, and within the museum’s garden was a scene that felt transplanted from one of these.
Now, though, two seasons into his brand, he said he was about plugging into the music of Jorge Ben and donning his designer hat. “That’s what I do—and it’s a job,” he said. “I love applying my vision to things.” And his vision is a fun one. Mostly it consists of rather lovely prints worn in a way that provokes immense swagger. Just check out Swae Lee, one half of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, who appeared second in the lineup dressed in a double-denim look drenched in hot pink and perfume bottles. Tajer confirmed that every animation—from dragons to deserted islands, peeled oranges to swimming pools—is created in-house.
Pieces toggled between tropical leisure attire and put-together sportswear: spread-collar shirts open past the chest; retro-fitted trousers in Miami Beach hues; knitwear tracksuits. This was an ambitious collection, totaling 65 looks accessorized with day bags, suede loafers, and embroidered moccasins. The tailoring could have benefited from a bit more finesse—or else have been dropped altogether for more of the embellished denim, which was gaudy in a good way. Whether Tajer was imagining certain archetypes—off-duty soccer player, yacht-owning eccentric, dandyish millennial—he was essentially recasting and convincing his crowd to embrace a wider range of style codes.
Casablanca has arrived at a moment when people are wondering what comes after, or at least exists as a counterpoint to, streetwear. “There are two schools,” Tajer said, using the French word, école. “I think there is an école of cool and an école of beautiful. Me, I am the école of beautiful.” In fact, he is shaping up to be both.
