Casablanca, the brand that came under fire for its tone-deaf Syrian-inspired Fall/Winter 2023 collection and complementing FW23 campaign, and for the use of horses in its Spring 2023 menswear show, has just shown its Spring/Summer 2024 co-ed collection at Paris Fashion Week. And while the collection didn’t feature any blatant misfires, it also didn’t feature anything worth writing home about.
Charaf Tajer’s Casablanca is a nice brand. Who wouldn’t want to be wrapped up in a silk shirt, wear an incredibly expensive leather biker jacket, or shimmer in a mini dress covered in jewels or sequins? Yet, somehow, Casablanca SS24 managed to deliver all of this and serve us with no lasting impact.
The impact we were left with was, “oh, that was alright. Yeah, nice.” In this collection, which per Tajer is “A very special collection dedicated to Nigeria, an homage to the great artists and activists that inspire me a lot and a focus on the progressive future for Africa,” we saw plenty of homages to Nigeria and Africa.
Highlights included a tank top made of beads in a rainbow of colours, a yellow suit infused with the Casablanca monogram, and all of the accessories – those bags with the bamboo handles were, truly, the standout from SS24 alongside some other rainbow pieces. However, tennis-inspired moments (which is a core element of Casablanca), showed no progress.
After plenty of thought, this is what the brand didn’t need. More tennis gear felt like Casablanca phoning it in, giving us nothing but the expected. For a collection titled “Day of Victory,” it’s hard to call any of these looks victorious.
We shall end on one final thought: October 1 is the date of Nigeria’s Independence. It also happens to be the same day as Casablanca’s show. Take a look at the comments on its Instagram account if you want some more insight into how some people feel about that.
Take a look at Casablanca SS24 here. More Paris Fashion Week SS24 content can be found online, on Culted’s Instagram, and on Culted’s TikTok.
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