Charaf Tajer, founder and creative director of Casablanca, explained backstage that this collection told the story of ancient Greece and “the bridge between them and us—how they influence us in architecture, philosophy, mathematics, psychedelics…” Hold on a sec…
You, like me, may have had no clue that the ancient city of Eleusis near Athens was once a hotbed of secret and sacred initiations. Beyond serving as a pilgrimage for mythical minds such as Cicero, it seems members of a cult would go for an altogether different kind of trip that involved fungi added to a potent drink—essentially a precursor to modern LSD.
This is not the first time that psychedelics have informed a Casablanca collection, and the press text even noted the brand’s “idealistic and psychedelic identity.” Here, within the Cirque d’Hiver, chosen for its amphitheater-like design, we were transported to what felt like a beach at sundown, where rows of seated performers conjured waves through an elaborate choreography of arm movements led by Sadeck Berrabah.
They might have had a hypnotic effect were it not for the many ways that the line-up seduced. Often this involved riffing on archetypes: statuesque draping reimagined as a clingy dress with a high slit and suiting that gathered around the waist, or else retro sportswear adapted for sleeker times. The recurring gradient blue treatment that washed across coats and coordinated looks was striking—and a calmer statement than the flashy foiled and quilted silver pieces. While hybrid wrestler belt-cummerbunds embroidered with 2024 were playful, if not borderline schtick, the letterman jackets covered in patchwork motifs and a quote from Cicero (a collaboration with Jeff Hamilton) made a winning statement—they clearly had fun geeking out over Greek. Five years on—and Casablanca’s second season on the women’s calendar—the brand shows equal confidence with the men’s and women’s lines; the main difference is that the latter leans noticeably sexier (see Jessica Stam in a lustrous corset with a generous flash of underboob for the finale).
The show’s title, “Venus as a Boy” noded to a Bjork track and Tajer said the line, “he believes in a beauty” speaks to his ongoing ethos. He is a peripatetic soul who can riff on cultural ideas without uncomfortable appropriations, perhaps because at each destination—last season, Nigeria—the team does a full immersion and then produces a collection that convincingly checks all retail categories (note the bags, sneakers and ancient Greek sandals gladiator styles). He’s like that rare student who excels at school without taking it too seriously. “It’s almost a sociological study to do fashion today,” he said. “I think aesthetics are just a reflection of a full intellectual world.” Evidently other, more transient worlds, too.
