Latest news with #CharafTajer
Fashion Network
06-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Casablanca opens first Paris store, plans spaces in LA, London, and skiwear line
Casablanca has taken a step it describes as 'decisive' by opening its first brick-and-mortar store. The French label, launched in 2018 by French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer, has set up shop in Paris, where it has been showing since January 2019, and where it has managed to establish itself as one of the up-and-coming names in ready-to-wear. Casablanca's first store is located in the French capital's luxury shopping district, on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. Casablanca has opened its flagship almost at one end of the prestigious thoroughfare, at number 62, on the corner with rue d'Aguesseau. The premises extend over nearly 460 square metres on three levels, and were previously home to an art gallery. The interiors are the brainchild of designer Charaf Tajer and the label's creative director Steve Grimes, working in collaboration with London-based design agency Counterfeit Studio and Moroccan architecture studio Elements Lab. The décor reflects 'a fusion between the past and the future, between Parisian elegance, cinema references and a bold, forward-looking vision,' said Casablanca in a press release. Originally, Casablanca focused on menswear, and made a name for itself with uber-chic looks featuring vibrant prints and fine fabrics, borrowing both from the sporting world, notably tennis, and from retro glamour. Soon the label added women's ready-to-wear, broadening its assortment by introducing a range of accessories, including leather goods, footwear and sneakers, scarves, socks and hats. The label's Parisian store showcases all these categories, spread out across each level within Casablanca's various collections. The atmosphere inside the store is decidedly cheerful and warm, with an almost pop-art feel. The furnishings are characterised by rounded and geometric shapes and by Casablanca's signature sunny palette — red, green and Mediterranean blue. The décor combines different styles and materials, using various types of marble, metal, lacquered wood, walls in white wood and others with mouldings and arched niches, velvet, mosaic, and metal and glass tinted in multiple shades for the display cabinets. After Paris, Casablanca will open in July in Los Angeles, at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills. The label, which has dropped several collaborations in recent years, with Bulgari, Caviar Kaspia, ST Dupont and Nordstrom among others, is distributed via its e-shop and 350 multibrand retailers worldwide. It has recently opened shop-in-shops at Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdale's in Dubai, and at KaDeWe in Berlin, and further shop-in-shops are on the cards in London, at Selfridges in September and Harrods in November. Casablanca also operates seasonal pop-up stores, like the space open for two months at Le Bon Marché in Paris, decked out like a beach club. This season, the label has established a presence also at the Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum (Turkey), and will open temporary stores at Tahiti Beach on the French Riviera in July, at the Fashion Clinic Comporta store in Cavalhal, Portugal, in August, and at the Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai, in partnership with the Ounass e-shop. Another project Casablanca is busy on is the autumn launch of a first skiwear capsule collection, produced in partnership with Swiss brand Faction Skis. It will be presented in November via pop-up spaces at Harrods in London and Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris, as well as in top Alpine resorts such as Verbier and Gstaad in Switzerland. Casablanca is backed by an investor and has moved its headquarters to London. In 2024, it generated a revenue of €45 million, and is expecting to reach €60 million for 2025, growing by more than 30%. Casablanca has been led since 2023 by Frederick Lukoff, and employs 140 people. The label has been posting double-digit annual growth on a regular basis. Sales for its e-shop have notably soared, recording a triple-digit rise this year. With this first Paris opening, Tajer is relishing Casablanca's success. 'When my parents arrived in France, my mother was working as a housekeeper, so me setting up a fashion house was the last thing that could be expected. Then, five or six years ago, I said: 'I want a corner in this street', and everyone told me it was impossible, because all the locations were taken by the top labels. Opening this store is a huge achievement for us: It feels like coming home.'
Fashion United
06-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion United
Casablanca anchors itself in Paris with first flagship on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Casablanca, the luxury brand founded by Charaf Tajer, has opened its inaugural flagship store in Paris, choosing the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré as its entry into physical retail. The opening signals more than a retail expansion and underscores the brand's ambition to solidify its cultural and commercial footprint in one of the world's most historically significant fashion capitals. The location, on a corner plot within Paris's prestigious 8th arrondissement on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, is a high-value corridor for global luxury, home to maisons such as Hermès and Chanel, and long associated with international cachet. For emerging houses like Casablanca, the street offers not just visibility but a validation within the fashion hierarchy. A high-value corridor for global luxury Paris is, of course, a critical base for fashion brands, not only as a global destination for tourism and luxury shopping, but also as the centre of haute couture, institutional credibility, and artistic heritage. Real estate along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré carries both financial and narrative weight; obtaining a retail foothold here is rare, especially for young labels. For Tajer, a Paris native raised in the multicultural Belleville neighbourhood, the store is also personal. 'Five or six years ago, I said, 'I want a corner on that street,' and everyone said it was impossible,' he recounts. 'Opening this store is like coming home—but more than that, it's about bringing something new to Paris, something progressive.' The three-level boutique, designed with Steve Grimes (Casablanca's brand art director), London-based Counterfeit Studio, and Morocco's Elements Lab, reflects the brand's recurring themes of sport, cinema, and cultural duality. Its design references range from the classical—arched niches, Haussmannian limestone, and Carrara marble mosaics—to the cinematic and speculative, such as a Kubrick-inspired lightbox ceiling and a sculptural tennis court that binds the store's two upper floors. Casablanca boutique, Paris Credits: Benoit Florençon The aesthetic interplay of old and new, luxury and sport, Paris and Casablanca, is deliberate. The lower level is wrapped in plush green carpet that climbs walls and curves across transparent display cases, designed as both retail fixtures and collectible art. On the ground floor, a palette of rich red, green, and blue interrupts the neutral architecture, offering a visual articulation of the brand's DNA: bold yet refined, heritage-conscious yet forward-looking. The flagship follows seven years of steady brand growth, largely defined by Casablanca's distinctive blend of Mediterranean leisurewear, graphic storytelling, and aspirational positioning. With its retail debut, the brand transitions from being digitally native and stockist-driven to establishing a direct-to-consumer, immersive environment. 'I'm not a dreamer—I'm a man of projects,' Tajer says. 'This isn't just a store. It's proof of what's possible.' A second flagship is due to open in Beverly Hills later this summer.
Fashion Network
24-04-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Casablanca to open first Los Angeles store after Paris
The Casablanca brand, founded in 2018 by Charaf Tajer, will open its first boutique in Los Angeles in July, two months after the planned opening of its Paris boutique on rue Saint-Honoré in May. Located at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, the giant 5,000-square-fo0t space formerly occupied by Jimmy Choo, hair salon chain Vidal Sassoon and yogurt specialist Pinkburry, will welcome the Casablanca brand in a sumptuous architectural setting, with Ionic-style columns, arched display cases and a magisterial wrought-iron staircase. A second store for the designer, a regular at Paris Fashion Week, who will nevertheless have to make his mark in Beverly Hills, in an area off Rodeo Drive. Located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Canon Drive, the boutique is on a less-trafficked stretch of Beverly Hills, occupied by offices and banks, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Beverly Hills Welcome Center and the Bank of America, and by a number of famous cultural venues, including the Wallis Annenberg Center and the Brainwash Museum. Just five minutes from the major Beverly Hills hotels and numerous restaurants, including the popular Wally's and Funke, the store could nonetheless benefit from the new retail momentum on Canon Drive and the refreshment taking place there. Deserted by the luxury brands all clustered on Rodeo Drive, the neighborhood has seen the opening of the cashmere brand Guest in Residence, founded by Gigi Hadid, on the nearby N Beverly Drive. More recently, the fashionable golf brand G/Fore opened its first boutique near Alo Yoga at 401 N Canon Drive, to offer 'its young, modern golfwear collections." The opening of a store in Los Angeles also resonates perfectly with Tajer's love for the West Coast. A long-time Los Angeles enthusiast, Tajer's Spring/Summer 2025 show entitled 'Can't Get Enough' was set against a backdrop of lowriders - a movement launched by Chicanos, Mexican-Americans in the early '40s, taken up by hip-hop and customizing cars into works of art, metallic paint, chrome and lights - and flamboyantly recounted his inspirations for LA, skate and surf culture. Long known in the Parisian nightlife scene - he was notably artistic director of the Pompon parties - the Moroccan-born Frenchman was also co-founder of the Pigalle label alongside designer Stéphane Ashpool. Twenty years of experience, parties, travel and networking led him to launch his own brand in 2018. A gradual but serious success, which led the brand to show at Paris Fashion Week a year later. Its second show, which transformed the gardens of the Musée de Montmartre into the 'Café de Casablanca', attracted a huge turnout of celebrities and guests from New York and California. In recent years, the brand has also forged numerous collaborations. In 2022, Tajer added his tropical graphic signature to a collection of Bulgari bags. In 2023, he teamed up with Caviar Kaspia for a capsule ready-to-wear collection and a limited-edition caviar tin. The brand has also collaborated with S.T. Dupont and Nordstrom, organized memorable parties during Art Basel Miami, and opened its Casablanca Tennis Club in Abu Dhabi last February. The Los Angeles boutique, like the one in Paris, will house the brand's entire wardrobe, from outerwear to tailoring in the West Coast or Miami style, to swimwear, Beach Club, eyewear and sport sneakers. Seven years after its launch, the brand has generated over 50 million euros, according to an interview with Tajer in Forbes Afrique magazine. Last year, the London-based brand announced the appointment of Txampi Diz as chief marketing officer, who had previously held the same position at Balmain. A year earlier, it appointed Frederick Lukoff, former CEO of the Stella McCartney and Scotch & Soda brands, as its new CEO, replacing Nadia Khan. Launched with men's collection, the brand followed with a women's collection in 2020, before a full reorganization in 2023. Its original company, Casablanca Clothing Ltd, founded by Tajer, had been acquired by a new company, Casablanca Paris Ltd. The new anonymous owner was already the brand's main investor.
Fashion Network
24-04-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Casablanca to open first Los Angeles store after Paris
The Casablanca brand, founded in 2018 by Charaf Tajer, will open its first boutique in Los Angeles in July, two months after the planned opening of its Paris boutique on rue Saint-Honoré in May. Located at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, the giant 5,000-square-fo0t space formerly occupied by Jimmy Choo, hair salon chain Vidal Sassoon and yogurt specialist Pinkburry, will welcome the Casablanca brand in a sumptuous architectural setting, with Ionic-style columns, arched display cases and a magisterial wrought-iron staircase. A second store for the designer, a regular at Paris Fashion Week, who will nevertheless have to make his mark in Beverly Hills, in an area off Rodeo Drive. Located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Canon Drive, the boutique is on a less-trafficked stretch of Beverly Hills, occupied by offices and banks, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Beverly Hills Welcome Center and the Bank of America, and by a number of famous cultural venues, including the Wallis Annenberg Center and the Brainwash Museum. Just five minutes from the major Beverly Hills hotels and numerous restaurants, including the popular Wally's and Funke, the store could nonetheless benefit from the new retail momentum on Canon Drive and the refreshment taking place there. Deserted by the luxury brands all clustered on Rodeo Drive, the neighborhood has seen the opening of the cashmere brand Guest in Residence, founded by Gigi Hadid, on the nearby N Beverly Drive. More recently, the fashionable golf brand G/Fore opened its first boutique near Alo Yoga at 401 N Canon Drive, to offer 'its young, modern golfwear collections." The opening of a store in Los Angeles also resonates perfectly with Tajer's love for the West Coast. A long-time Los Angeles enthusiast, Tajer's Spring/Summer 2025 show entitled 'Can't Get Enough' was set against a backdrop of lowriders - a movement launched by Chicanos, Mexican-Americans in the early '40s, taken up by hip-hop and customizing cars into works of art, metallic paint, chrome and lights - and flamboyantly recounted his inspirations for LA, skate and surf culture. Long known in the Parisian nightlife scene - he was notably artistic director of the Pompon parties - the Moroccan-born Frenchman was also co-founder of the Pigalle label alongside designer Stéphane Ashpool. Twenty years of experience, parties, travel and networking led him to launch his own brand in 2018. A gradual but serious success, which led the brand to show at Paris Fashion Week a year later. Its second show, which transformed the gardens of the Musée de Montmartre into the 'Café de Casablanca', attracted a huge turnout of celebrities and guests from New York and California. In recent years, the brand has also forged numerous collaborations. In 2022, Tajer added his tropical graphic signature to a collection of Bulgari bags. In 2023, he teamed up with Caviar Kaspia for a capsule ready-to-wear collection and a limited-edition caviar tin. The brand has also collaborated with S.T. Dupont and Nordstrom, organized memorable parties during Art Basel Miami, and opened its Casablanca Tennis Club in Abu Dhabi last February. The Los Angeles boutique, like the one in Paris, will house the brand's entire wardrobe, from outerwear to tailoring in the West Coast or Miami style, to swimwear, Beach Club, eyewear and sport sneakers. Seven years after its launch, the brand has generated over 50 million euros, according to an interview with Tajer in Forbes Afrique magazine. Last year, the London-based brand announced the appointment of Txampi Diz as chief marketing officer, who had previously held the same position at Balmain. A year earlier, it appointed Frederick Lukoff, former CEO of the Stella McCartney and Scotch & Soda brands, as its new CEO, replacing Nadia Khan. Launched with men's collection, the brand followed with a women's collection in 2020, before a full reorganization in 2023. Its original company, Casablanca Clothing Ltd, founded by Tajer, had been acquired by a new company, Casablanca Paris Ltd. The new anonymous owner was already the brand's main investor.
Fashion Network
24-04-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Casablanca to open first Los Angeles store after Paris
The Casablanca brand, founded in 2018 by Charaf Tajer, will open its first boutique in Los Angeles in July, two months after the planned opening of its Paris boutique on rue Saint-Honoré in May. Located at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, the giant 5,000-square-fo0t space formerly occupied by Jimmy Choo, hair salon chain Vidal Sassoon and yogurt specialist Pinkburry, will welcome the Casablanca brand in a sumptuous architectural setting, with Ionic-style columns, arched display cases and a magisterial wrought-iron staircase. A second store for the designer, a regular at Paris Fashion Week, who will nevertheless have to make his mark in Beverly Hills, in an area off Rodeo Drive. Located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Canon Drive, the boutique is on a less-trafficked stretch of Beverly Hills, occupied by offices and banks, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Beverly Hills Welcome Center and the Bank of America, and by a number of famous cultural venues, including the Wallis Annenberg Center and the Brainwash Museum. Just five minutes from the major Beverly Hills hotels and numerous restaurants, including the popular Wally's and Funke, the store could nonetheless benefit from the new retail momentum on Canon Drive and the refreshment taking place there. Deserted by the luxury brands all clustered on Rodeo Drive, the neighborhood has seen the opening of the cashmere brand Guest in Residence, founded by Gigi Hadid, on the nearby N Beverly Drive. More recently, the fashionable golf brand G/Fore opened its first boutique near Alo Yoga at 401 N Canon Drive, to offer 'its young, modern golfwear collections." The opening of a store in Los Angeles also resonates perfectly with Tajer's love for the West Coast. A long-time Los Angeles enthusiast, Tajer's Spring/Summer 2025 show entitled 'Can't Get Enough' was set against a backdrop of lowriders - a movement launched by Chicanos, Mexican-Americans in the early '40s, taken up by hip-hop and customizing cars into works of art, metallic paint, chrome and lights - and flamboyantly recounted his inspirations for LA, skate and surf culture. Long known in the Parisian nightlife scene - he was notably artistic director of the Pompon parties - the Moroccan-born Frenchman was also co-founder of the Pigalle label alongside designer Stéphane Ashpool. Twenty years of experience, parties, travel and networking led him to launch his own brand in 2018. A gradual but serious success, which led the brand to show at Paris Fashion Week a year later. Its second show, which transformed the gardens of the Musée de Montmartre into the 'Café de Casablanca', attracted a huge turnout of celebrities and guests from New York and California. In recent years, the brand has also forged numerous collaborations. In 2022, Tajer added his tropical graphic signature to a collection of Bulgari bags. In 2023, he teamed up with Caviar Kaspia for a capsule ready-to-wear collection and a limited-edition caviar tin. The brand has also collaborated with S.T. Dupont and Nordstrom, organized memorable parties during Art Basel Miami, and opened its Casablanca Tennis Club in Abu Dhabi last February. The Los Angeles boutique, like the one in Paris, will house the brand's entire wardrobe, from outerwear to tailoring in the West Coast or Miami style, to swimwear, Beach Club, eyewear and sport sneakers. Seven years after its launch, the brand has generated over 50 million euros, according to an interview with Tajer in Forbes Afrique magazine. Last year, the London-based brand announced the appointment of Txampi Diz as chief marketing officer, who had previously held the same position at Balmain. A year earlier, it appointed Frederick Lukoff, former CEO of the Stella McCartney and Scotch & Soda brands, as its new CEO, replacing Nadia Khan. Launched with men's collection, the brand followed with a women's collection in 2020, before a full reorganization in 2023. Its original company, Casablanca Clothing Ltd, founded by Tajer, had been acquired by a new company, Casablanca Paris Ltd. The new anonymous owner was already the brand's main investor.
