Hayet Maoui: From Algerian fashion to international fashion

Toulouse, Occitania’s capital, has loved fashion and proved it by organizing Fashion Week since 2019.

Everyone knows the « Big 4 »: New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion capitals. Now, Toulouse offers Fashion Week since last year.

What is Fashion-Week?

Fashion Week is a fashion event. During a week, she presents the collections of designers and designers twice a year, a few months in advance. It is also an opportunity to discover new trends.

Winter collections are presented in February-March and summer collections in September-October. Stylists and fashion houses organize haute couture (Paris only), ready-to-wear and men’s fashion shows. It is therefore 6 occasions to meet celebrities in the front row. Fashion weekends are only open to guests (celebrities, journalists, buyers).

The organizers are different in the 4 major cities: Fédération Française de la Couture (Paris), Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (Milan), British Fashion Council (London) and Council of Fashion Designers of America (New York). The priority is to organize an original parade that will mark the minds and influence the major public brands.

Fashion Week in Toulouse

Toulouse Fashion Week is the largest fashion event in Occitania. The city intends to stand out in the far south as a fashionable stronghold.

Who is behind Toulouse’s Fashion Week?

The Toulouse Institute of Arts and Fashion, chaired by Fabrice Sauriat, is organizing the first Fashion Week in February 2019. Different from the « Big 4 » editions, it includes dance demonstrations, musical interludes, exhibitions of paintings and photos…

« The Pink City » is home to 5 stylistic schools and many regional designers. She also wants to rank in the lead to attract all players in Occitania fashion. Spain, on the border, has lost Barcelona’s Fashion Week for 2 years and Toulouse has benefited. There were 2 more Fashions Week in June and fall.

The first Fashion Week in Toulouse

On March 14, 15 and 16, 2019, Toulouse hosted its first Fashion Week at the Cepière racecourse.  For 3 days, the public discovered the parades and related events: exhibitions of paintings and photos, shows and concerts. In the evening, a parade of prestigious cars including Masserati preceded the parades interrupted by performances of singers (Kriss Carter, Bad Badia, santa mi..) and dancers (Pole Dance, Dance Talons Hauts..).

No less than 5 modeling agencies, 40 models and 21 designers were present.  The hairdressers of Jean-Claude Aubry and the makeup school Michel Dumas, were at their side. Among the creators, a dozen regional designers and oriental designers from Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Morocco…

The Institute of Arts and Fashion in Toulouse decided to give scholarships to young designers at the end of each edition.

2020 Toulouse Fashion Week

The 3rd edition of Toulouse Fashion Week is under the theme « Eleganza, Extravaganza ». This year, nearly 90 models, 17 designers, and more than 50 artists from all walks of life have made their mark on the podium. In the Stadium’s panoramic lounges, the public was able to attend extraordinary shows on October 16 and 17. The sound system was specially designed for this event, a mixture of art and fashion.

After performances by singers, dancers, circassians, Drag-Queens and transformists, the cabaret « La Vénus de Toulouse » offered a final with the entire troupe.

This charity event was held in partnership with Fashion Week in Milan, Fashion Week in Poland, the Pride de Toulouse and the Pride de de Montréal. Nearly 300 volunteers prepared the project for 8 months. In addition, a VIP cocktail included tasting of pastry chefs and chefs, not to mention the art exhibition.

The 17 designers came from Italy, Poland, Russia, England, Uganda, Congo, Geneva, Cayenne, Algeria, Laos, Niger and France.  The models were members of the association « Institute of Arts and Fashion », organizer of the event. Polish designer Agnès Wuyam and French-Algerian designer Hayet Maoui were among them.

Portrait of designer Hayet Maoui

Based in Mulhouse, Alsace, Hayet Maoui is a French designer of Algerian origin. Self-taught, she created her Ma-Yes Creations brand in 2008 by making traditional outfits with modernity.

An embroidery training in gold and silver thread in Algeria, allows him to specialize in this category. She then decided to incorporate it into her collections.

Hand embroidery is at the heart of its unique achievements, dedicated to each client.  Each of its models is a work of art that requires many hours of work because it is often done by hand. Intuitive, she draws her inspiration from art in general, passionate about painting, drawing and floral art while exuding a certain elegance.

In 2015, she took part for the first time in the Alger Fashion Week edition in Lyon at the Château de Montchat. The following year, she made the 2nd edition at the Normandy Hotel in Paris (75001).

What is Alger Fashion Week?

In 2011, Alger Fashion Week promotes Algerian fashion, in France and Algeria, but also internationally. It collaborates with renowned designers, model agencies, large accredited photographers, and large institutions (embassies, consulates, ministries of culture).It offers fashion shows only of traditional Algerian outfits, respecting the Algerian heritage, some of which are listed as World Heritage.

In February 2014, Alger Fashion Week was the first edition of a professional fashion event with 2 days of fashion shows. The following year, she joined fashion designers from several countries (Algeria, France, Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Italy). The 2015 edition hosts the biggest names in the Algerian and Mediterranean fashion scene at the Palace of Culture and at Dar Abdelati.

A competition, with financial support, was held to select the best young person to nominate.  He then presented his collection at the second edition of Alger Fashion Week in 2016.

What is Hayet Maoui’s work?

Hayet describes his work: « …I build up stories, narrations, like a trip or a movie scenario… and I build my collection by telling this story on a series of variants, in relation to cuts, to the details of looking for volumes, to the details of colors, prints, fabrics and textures… Then I develop embroidery. »

Its aim is to try to be fully modern. She wants to make clothes that can last, cross the seasons, adapted to the uses of the person who wears them.

As for her profession, she considers her « polymorphic » with multiple facets, comparing herself to a conductor. It must manage all positions (management, accounting, administrative, commercial, communication, production, deliveries).

My-Yes Creations has a beautiful day ahead of her. Her last performance was the « Miss Alsace » and « Miss Ronde » elections where she reportedly presented her new Frida collection at the « Biotiful Café » in Rixheim on Saturday, October 31, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. Event postponed until December 12 if confinement is not extended.

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VERONIQUE YANG

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