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Thursday 23 April 2015

The raffia shoe maker-Le faiseur de chaussures en raffia.

There is a wonderful soft-spoken man in the medina who makes shoes out of raffia.
Il y a, dans la medina, un homme merveilleux qui fait des chaussures en raffia.


His shop is so tiny, it is easy to miss when you go by, but once inside you are in Raffia heaven.
Son échoppe est tellement petite qu'il est facile de la rater, mais une fois à l'intérieur on est au paradis du raffia.


Here he is packing some slippers for my sister.
Le voici empaquetant des mules pour ma soeur.



The shoes are a bit stiff at the beginning but after a few days they become as soft as silk. The shoes are made entirely by hand with crochets and needles. They have leather soles and sometimes also have some decorations in leather.
Les chaussures sont un peu raides au début mais après quelques jours elles deviennent aussi douces que de la soie. Les chaussures sont faites entièrement à la main avec un crochet et des aiguilles. Les semelles ainsi que, parfois, certaines parties de la chaussures, sont en cuir.





He has earned a number of well deserved awards for his work as shown on the photographs on his shop wall.
Il a reçu de nombreux prix bien mérités pour son travail comme en attestent ces photos au mur de son échoppe. 


Images: Joelle Desparmet


5 comments:

  1. Just bought a pair in Assilah - I didn't realise there was someone in Tanger making them so will definitely look out for this in the medina!

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  2. How can i find this shop? I am going to Tangier in June.
    Thank you!

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  3. Hi Joelle, and thank you for this post—like everything on your blog, it's made me all the more excited to visit Tangier. Is there an email address at which I can reach you with particular questions about the city?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Gina, you can reach me at joelle.desparmet@mcgill.ca

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