This is the story of my last trip to Morocco
This country that never ceases to fascinate us with its colors, its landscapes, its scents of spices, its intoxicating music...
It is with a heavy heart that I leave Morocco after having spent 2 incredible weeks, but excited to be able to present to you all the beautiful things that we have created with these artisans!
It was 2 intense weeks where I made exceptional encounters, forged close and lasting bonds with great artisans, discovered Essaouira, this fascinating village with its white and blue colors, with its Gnaoua music festival where I had the chance to see the Berber blues group TINARIWEN live...
A quick mention for the BOHO 27 hostal in Marrakech, great rooftop with Sunset, top breakfasts, impeccable dormitory rooms and great atmosphere...
Thanks to all the great staff who made me have a great time...and a special shout out to Khalid.
On the craft side, it all started thanks to Rachid, special dedication to him too, without whom my stay in Marrakech would not have been the same...
Indeed, thanks to him, I was able to be introduced to incredible artisans with whom I was able to build real bonds for the future.
Rachid also made all our pouches with old kilims and azilals that I carefully chose one by one because they are all very old and unique pieces... This moment was just a great thrill for me
The mix with leather makes them unique and chic (you will soon be able to discover them online)
For the record, kilims and azilal are very old rugs hand-woven by Berber women. Each rug has a very strong personal story, but we will come back to that in a future article dedicated to these rugs and this Berber culture which is also called AMAZIGH which means free man.
Then I met Walid.
Walid is Tuareg and together we chose several pieces of jewelry from his tribe as well as very old indigo fabrics from Mali and as Walid is an artisan jeweler, I was able to develop with him a series of brass jewelry with my own designs, which you will be able to discover at the start of the school year.
Rachida has her own Argan cooperative, outside of Marrakech, which I was able to visit and discover her rose water, orange blossom water, and her organic Argan-based products.
We therefore naturally decided to soon develop a range of organic products with her!
I then met Nawal, in Essaouira.
Nawal has developed her own weavers' cooperative to make these magnificent raffia shoes.
For your information, each pair takes three days to be made...
We can't wait to welcome them to the shop and show them to you, because their weaving work is truly impressive.
Abdel and Rachida, my suppliers of mirrors, bowls and other wonders for a long time, but who have also become true friends and a bit like my family there and without who have also helped me enormously!
And finally, Abdel and his basketwork... it was on leaving Marrakech, on the road to Essaouira that I was able to meet his artisan weavers and place a personalized order for all kinds of baskets... Leather, raffia and palm are their raw materials which will then give birth to these sumptuous hand-woven baskets...
There you have it, you know almost everything about my trip to Morocco, but also about the origin of our products, because as you know, it is very important for MADAME MELON to be transparent with you about the origin of our items and the relationships we develop with our artisans all over the world.
Another big thank you to all our artisans and a big thank you to Rachid with whom we will develop beautiful things in the future… Clothing, cosmetics, ceramics, leather goods…
This trip inspired me a lot and made me want to develop more things, so follow us to be informed of the latest news.
We are going back soon to develop this winter's collection and perhaps announce a project that we have...
patience…. !
I'll let you discover this journey in pictures before putting our new products online very soon.
to all Amazighs and to Mama Africa,
Mrs. Melon
