Maison ARTC Opens Marrakech Fashion Week 2024

Renowned fashion house Maison ARTC opened the third edition of Marrakech Fashion Week on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, to wide acclaim.

The brainchild of the Marrakech-based Israeli Moroccan designer, Artsi Ifrach, has been making waves around the world - exhibiting at the London V&A and the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and gracing runways in Paris and Madrid — but the opening at MFW was Maison ARTC’s first fashion show at home in Morocco.

Ifrach is an autodidact and only makes one-of-a-kind pieces. His bold use of colors, embroidery, and signature head ornaments blend contemporary art with Moroccan tradition. In an effort to combat fashion’s harrowing environmental effects, all his garments are created of upcycled vintage textiles, scraps of metal, and high-quality leftover materials.

“I think the future is to go back,” he told Vogue Arabia who praised him as “one of the most gifted and revolutionary designers working today,” after he won the Fashion Trust Award in 2022. “I am taking what already exists and giving it a new life.”

Through garments, photography, and creative direction, Maison ARTC celebrates Moroccan culture, architecture, heritage, and resilience. Ifrach dedicated his FTA win to his country, saying that his roots enabled him to be the creative person he is today.

In that spirit, Maison ARTC’s opening show of MFW was named "REBUILD" and held at the Bahia Palace, a stunning 19th-century historical site in the heart of the red city’s medina.

The show began with a speech by the late Moroccan King Hassan II, encouraging Moroccans to be proud of their heritage and walk barefoot on their land.

Ifrach’s models walked the runway to a meticulous sonic backdrop of Middle Eastern and North African music. “It was a poetic show, the choice of the models was harmonious and diverse,” Moroccan artist Ahmed Amine Dhioui tells OkayAfrica. “The colors, the movement, and the rhythms represented different parts of Morocco and paid tribute to Palestine.”

Maison ARTC’s manager and muse, Meryem Tilila Oulhaj, shared the show’s stunning soundscape on Soundcloud, featuring a diverse range of musicians, like Tunisian percussionist and composer Imed Alibi, and Moroccan singer Khayra Afazaz.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Photo by Gabriele Palmato.

Maison ARTC often exhibits in a context of African collaboration and futurism, preserving the history and memory of materials while rethinking them within a futuristic framework. In May, the fashion house will participate in the State of Fashion’s Arnhem Biennale Ties That Bind, which brings together practices in fashion, textiles, and contemporary art from the Global South.