By Youssef Sourgo
Morocco World News
Casablanca, April 9, 2013
When the glamour of contemporary fashion fuses with the Moroccan Kaftan’s fascinating traditional appearance, wizardly attires effloresce. Nevertheless, few fashion designers are able to preserve the charm of tradition while injecting the air of modernity into Moroccan intricate dress.
Originally Moroccan but based in Chicago, Salima Erref is one of the few fashion designers able to skillfully perform this fusion.
Salima gave up a prosperous career in corporate finance to set up her own semi-traditional, semi-modern Kaftan brand, which she named “Sally Kaftan Design.”
Since the launching of the brand in 2012, Salima continues to astound her clients through her sophisticated, enchanting and detailed pieces.
Her meticulous and sophisticated eye is owed to her architect father, whilst her artistic creativity is inherited from her grandfather, a well-known tailor and designer. It is in his atelier where she used to help him with his work that her love relationship with design began. Salma is thus the descendent of two generations of artistic minds.
Since the Kaftan is one recognizable constituent of Moroccan culture, Salma ensures that it best represents it. Superior quality, creativity, and sophistication are all traits that “Sally Kaftan Design’’ has been matched to. Even the designer herself cannot resist the hypnosis of her own work: “I always wear kaftans designed by myself. Even when I buy a garment I always add an embellishment on it to personalize it,” said Salma.
Her choice for the Moroccan Kaftan is anything but a product of coincidence or mere strategic commercial choice. Though residing in the U.S., Salima was brought up in a pure Moroccan entourage, surrounded by all the manifestations of Moroccan culture and customs. She thus decided to share the beauty of this Moroccan divine dress with the world.
Salima Erref eyes wide horizons for her passion: “My dream is to see Sally Kaftan Designs showcasing the Moroccan Kaftan at the most important runway shows in America.”
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