Salima El Boussouni @salimaelboussouni
Salima El Boussouni @salimaelboussouni
Welcome to an exclusive interview with Salima El Boussouni for Perumira! This distinguished Moroccan designer has taken traditional Moroccan fashion to new heights, gaining international acclaim for her exquisite caftans. Salima is the creative force behind the fashion house Caftan Skalli, a family legacy passed down from her grandmother.
Salima has transformed the Moroccan caftan into a contemporary fashion statement, while preserving its cultural essence. Her designs, characterized by vibrant colors, luxurious fabrics, and intricate embroidery, have captivated a global audience and have been worn by celebrities at international events. Among her numerous achievements, she was honored with the prestigious “Best Designer of the World 2024” award by MODAVISION®.
In this interview, we explore Salima’s journey from her roots in Morocco to her rise in global fashion. We discuss her inspirations, her commitment to preserving Moroccan craftsmanship, and her vision for the future of fashion. Join us as we uncover how Salima El Boussouni is making an indelible mark on the fashion industry.
1.– Salima, tell me about the city where you were born and raised. ,What do you like about your hometown?
I was born and raised in Casablanca Morocco, it’s a city that is rich in culture and history, but I’ve lived for over a decade in Montreal Canada, and I consider it my second home. Montreal is a melting pot of cultures, and both cities inspire me.
2.- What makes you laugh a lot or does it give you a lot of joy?
My children are what gives me joy in my life, they are the reason of my existence and my everything. But also, I’ve been blessed with amazing friends, I have close friends all over the world, and I keep in touch with all of them, they are my richness in life, they are my most precious treasure that I picked up along my travels, and I’m grateful for each one of them, because they shaped the person I am today.
3.- Fashion Designer– Winner of the World’s Best Designer 2024 Modavision. When do you decide to take your first steps as Fashion designer?
I’m the third generation of designers in my family, my grandmother had a sewing and embroidery school, and my mother was a designer as well, she was the one who founded the couture house “Caftan Skalli “that I represent today over 40 years ago. Growing up I used to make fashion sketches for my mum, but she kept them as a child’s drawing not knowing I was meant to become a designer, its only after finishing university that I realized I always wanted to become a designer and I registered in The Academy of Arts and Design in Montreal to get a degree in fashion and that was in 2006.
4.- How did you feel when you were proclaimed World’s Best Designer 2024?
When the organiser first contacted me to participate, I told her I’m not coming to participate, I’m coming to win, but it was a joke. Then during the show, I didn’t think I was going to win, there was a Spanish designer in the competition, so he has territorial advantage, there was a lot more Spanish people than Moroccans, and then after I won, many Spanish people and French people who came to the show came to see me to tell me that they voted for me, because they liked my collection, then after I came back to Morocco, everyone called me to congratulate me and even on social media, my video with the prize got so many interecations, I was proud to represent my country and wave the Moroccan flag.
5.- What did you think of your experience at Modavision and did you meet Olga IF for the first time?
It was the first time for me to meet Olga, I also met with many designers from all over the world, it was a fun experience.
6.- Salima, what do you think distinguishes you and your creations in each garment? What is the design process of Salima, How do you get inspired, who do you think of? Is the result as you propose?
The main porpuse of my work is to always innovate in each collection, but the challenge is to present something new but with the same touch. My touch is very particular and personal and it makes my clients feel unique when they are wearing my designs, each design is unique, because I believe that each client is unique, and I always want my clients to feel special when they’re wearing my designs. I don’t have a design process that I follow, sometimes, I see something in a movie, or in the street, or along my travels and it inspires a whole collection, sometimes, I fall in love with a fabric and it inspires me. When I’m designing a collection I keep my client in mind, and my target client is like me, she’s a modern woman who likes to be different but she’s also attached to her roots and she wears the Moroccan touch with elegance and pride, she likes to feel comfortable, so I’m always doing my best to make my designs light, easy to wear, comfortable and breathable, that’s why I only use silk in my fabrics to give my designs that luxurious feel and also ad some comfort.
7.- What expectations – pending task do you think you have? What are the next steps as a designer?
Since the beginning of my career I’ve had plenty of opportunities to showcase my designs all over the world, I’ve been to more that 15 countries, done all the big international fashion weeks such as Paris, Milan, New York, Dubai and so on, and I’ve participated to over 50 fashion shows and countless exhibitions. My designs have also attracted many celebrities, mainly in the arab world, and you can see my designs worn by famous singers and actresses in many red carpets and film festivals, even Latoya Jackson picked my design to wear for the film Festival in Cannes.
8.- What feeling do you have achieving your dreams, your passions and being a recognized influencer woman today?
Honestly, I’m a hard worker but I’ve been blessed in the sense that I’ve achieved everything I wanted in my career and more. I won many awards, in Dubai, Milan, Geneva, Cairo and Algiers. I’m so grateful to be able to live my dream and passion. Today, I can say with confidence that I built a name for myself in the fashion world, my touch is recognized among many, it wasn’t easy, because there is so much competition in this field and especially in Morocco, but hard work always pays off, and it was definitely worth it.
9.- Are you aware of being an influential woman for thousands of girls who want to be fashion designers? How important is it to you to be an idol for many girls and teenagers?
I used to be a fashion history and a fashion marketing teacher for 3 years, unfortunately, my work is so time consuming and so is teaching so at one point I had to make a choice, but during those years, it felt good giving back to the fashion community, and for me teaching is learning, I felt like I was more learning from my student than they were learning from me, I kept in touch with most of them, I consider myself their mentor and it comes with a responsibility, so I’m always open to help and support them in any way ii can, and will continue to do so. I also get a lot of messages from young students who dream to become designers and they reach out to me for advice and guidance and I’m always happy to give it to them.
10.- What do you think about the power of social media today?
I think social media is an incredible tool, so essential for promoting our work, today if you don’t exist in social, you don’t exist. I find it’s a great opportunity to get closer to our targeted clientele in a very simple, interactive and direct way. It gives us free visibility. The only thing is, it’s important to know how to use social media to our advantage without letting it take control, because it can be very overwhelming, time consuming and energy absorbing. Also, the other bad aspect of social media is the people who copy the designs, but it’s important to keep in mind that only the best get copied and that a copy can never come close to an original.
11.- How do you like to interact with your followers on social media? Whats your favorite social media?
I don’t consider myself an influencer so I rarely post content where I’m speaking directly to my followers. My favourite social media is Instagram, I find it the most efficient for my line of work, but I also use Facebook and tiktok . Before I used to do photoshoots with models then post the pictures on social media, during covid I dint have a way to do that and I still needed to promote my design to be able to see them, so I started wearing them myself and posting the videos where I show the details up close, and the reactions have been incredible, it allowed me get a lot closer to my followers, it made my page much more interactive and I started getting a lot more messages. I think the fact that I was the one wearing the designs as opposed to a model and using my phone with a mirror made the product much more accessible, and that’s the beauty of Instagram and social media in general.
12.- What would you advise young people who have talent but do not dare to take the next step? What would you advise parents who do not support their children’s talents?
I would tell them its never too early to start, if I had known that I wanted to pursue fashion design as a career I would have started a lot sooner, so for the young generation who dreams of a career as a fashion designer, start looking for fashion school, fashion programs, internships, fashion event, every opportunity is good for learning and getting some experience. They should also start thinking about their style, their brand, their touch, and they can start building it, and building a platform with followers so that the sooner they start they can sell their designs, and the sooner the better, because it’s a fast-changing industry and anyone who wants to succeed in it had to always be up to date in terms of trends, fabrics, colours, cuts and shapes, etc.
13.- What important lessons have you learned from the world of fashion?
Develop your unique touch, Work hard, innovate but without losing your touch. Every trend eventually comes back, in fashion history always repeats itself. You need to know your fashion history, it will always come in handy. Stay confident in your product and you will be fine and remember there is a market for everyone.
14.- Salima, being a model for you has been easy? Were there obstacles? How did you overcome obstacles?
I began the adventure as a child model at the age of 9 and I modeled manly for my mum in many countries for many years, then at the age of 14 I started designing what I was wearing in weddings and special occasions then slowly but surely, there was a lot of demand for my designs.
15.- Worldwide, women have acquired a greater role even though there are societies where they are still abused. What is your opinion of the role of women in the future in these societies?
I think women ae the future of humanity. Women have had to work twice as hard to be able to fit in today’s society, especially in the macho societies, they had to fight for every one of their basic rights, they slowly replaced men in many positions in today’s society and without compromising their role as wives, housewife, mothers, daughters, sisters. In today’s world we have more and more women who have had higher education and who occupy high positions in the society, and high revenue jobs with big responsibility and big influence and many fields that used to be reserved for men. So I would say, men should watch out, because women are taking over the world.
16.- Salima, what is your motivation and what do you feel grateful for every day?
I’m grateful to god every day for creating me, for being alive and for my health, I’m grateful for my children, my husband, my family and my friends who are my biggest supporters, and I’m grateful to have not just one but 3 jobs that I love and that are meaningful to me, since I became a yoga instructor and a pranic healer about a year ago, and it gives me balance and allows me to recharge my batteries which keeps me going, but no matter how much I love my job, it’s a very stressful, and very time and energy consuming, so yoga and pranic healing allow me to balance that.
17.- Salima, Do you like to travel? What countries do you know? What other countries would you like to know?
For me travelling is living, I’ve travelled over 100 times to more than 30 different countries, some countries I visited many times, to be it’s the best investment ever. There are still a few countries in my bucket list such as Japan, Australia, Maldives, etc, but to me every country deserves to be seen, each county I visited had an impact on me and helped shape the person that I am today.
18.- You and me (Jaime William) are going to play ping pong, I will tell you one word and you will answer with another word that comes to your mind.
Ok
- Marriage : Wedding
- Children: My everything
- Love : Kevin (my husband)
- Travel: Life
- Abortion: Sadness
- Dance: salsa
- Sing: Sarah (my best friend)
- Sport: Hiit
- Money: Abundance
- Parents: Blessing
- Passion: Fashion
- Madness percentage: 70%
- Character: Protagonist
19.- Salima, these final lines are your
I want to thank you Jaime for this amazing interview, so different from the questions I always get, and I wanna thank Olga for the opportunity to allow me to participate and win Modavision 2024.
Salima El Boussouni
Interview conducted by Jaime William Mostacero Baca with – Salima El Boussouni – Morocco
English language
Salima El Boussouni Contact: WhatsApp
Interview authorized in writing by WhatsApp : Salima El Boussouni – Perumira – Jaime William
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Jaime William
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