Rue Maghreb

For this independent study, I spent some time working on an idea that I had been thinking about for quite some time, starting a brand. I follow a lot of brands on instagram that all create streetwear to represent Middle Eastern culture such as Palestinian, Yemeni, Jordanian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Syrian culture. As much as I love those culture, and hold them close to my heart especially growing up with friends who cam from that background, I always wished that there would have been a brand like that for my roots. I come from a Mexican and Moroccan background, it was always really hard growing up and trying to find something that resembled me. I was never ashamed of who I was and where my parents came from, in fact, each time someone started a conversation with me I would inform them on my background. Because I saw that these brands have a trend with the people who they wanted to bring forward, Middle Easterners, I also saw a lot of people who came from a North African background whether they were Tunisian, Moroccan, or Algerian, who also followed these brands. I wondered if they felt the same way that I did. I wondered if they wanted something to relate to, but still wanted to educate others on their background. From there I played around with the idea of starting my own brand that catered to North African countries. I had been thinking about it for a while to the point that I was certain that I wanted to start something. I talked to my parents about the idea, and they agreed. My independent started with me trying to come up with a name. I knew that I wanted to think about incorporating French and Arabic to the name because those are the two commonly spoken languages in the Maghreb region. I wanted a name that joined these countries together, but I also wanted an urban flow to it. I played with the idea of street names, and in France every street name starts with Rue, meaning street or route. Maghreb is the region in North Africa which include three countries such as: Algeria, Morocco,Tunisia. From there, I found the name, Rue Maghreb. I created an instagram handle, and started contacting people I knew to follow and inform others about the brand starting. From there, we started the process of creating a brand!

Now the process included, how do we print shirts? I went to different screen printers across the Chicagoland who would be able to print my designs on shirts. Another question came up, where do I purchase wholesale shirts? How soft does the shirt need to be? Do I cuff the sleeve? Many questions were coming up which may have been the most stressful time of the business planning. It came down to my teachers recommending me to screen print my own shirts because not only was it cheaper, but I would be able to see the process myself. I do not regret printing my shirts one bit, especially because of how picky I am with things. I was able to see the process from building a screen printing frame, to picking the colors I wanted for ink, to printing my very own shirt. I bought the shirts from a wholesale website, and chose the Bella + Canvas brand shirts to work with. Now that that process was over, I needed to take some photos of the merch to put up on the website. My friends and I held a shoot at my house, and then we headed out to Wicker Park to get some shots. Chicago is the best place to take photos, especially when your trying to get the urban vibe for your shots. When I was thinking about the brand, I wanted to make sure that people were aware that the brand is based in Chicago. I grew up in Wicker Park and I think the area has a lot to do with the way I am today. This area has allowed me to express myself, and my culture. I got most of my fashion style from seeing the people around me. Walking around Milwaukee Ave. and seeing everyone's outfits inspired me and made me feel more confident in who I was. I want people to feel the same way with their merch when walking around an area they feel connected to. As we were shooting, my friends and I also felt that confidence with what we were wearing. The shirts fit in and people began asking us where we got our shirts fun which was my very first interaction with people asking me about the brand. It was a great feeling. Here are some clip of the shoot that day!




Lastly, it all came down to creating and designing the website. I needed a domain in order to make the name official! Now that I had settled with the name, Rue Maghreb, I was very confident in the decision I had made. I created the website using Wix.com which was a great way to start off creating a website, especially when you don't have experience. I started thinking about the ways that I wanted to design the website to make sure that it caught everyone's eye. I made sure to release a countdown on instagram to inform my audience to tune into the website when I launched. While I was designing, I also made sure to direct message a bunch of people who were also interested in North African culture. Whether they were North African themselves or already had a shop dedicated to Moroccan rugs or even teapots, I made sure to message anyone and everyone to get the word out that the site was launching. The day I launched, I had people from Antwerp, Belgium which has a huge Moroccan population putting the Rue Maghreb site on their instagram pages. I also had people in Dubai informing their followers. People in the U.S. Three days before the launch, I emailed this beauty influencer who is Moroccan. She is famous for being the very first hijabi model for the popular makeup shop, Sephora. She helped Sephora in making a big step in terms of diversity for the brand. She wore the merch and posted about Rue Maghreb on instagram. Prior to the launch, Rue Maghreb had 138 followers. After the first day of the launch, we made 210 followers! It was great seeing the messages from people who were excited not only for the launch, but also to know that they had always wanted a brand that was dedicated to their culture! Today, you can check out the merch on the Rue Maghreb site!

I am so glad that I started the brand up! I think it was a great experience through everything. Although this is an independent study, I couldn't have done it without the help of my teachers who guided me through questions that kept popping up. I have been able to connect with Moroccans, Algerians, and Tunisians throughout the U.S. and internationally which is awesome. I see some really exciting things happening for the brand very soon. I have two contacts, one in Morocco and the other in Chicago to collaborate with which is really exciting! This independent study was a great way to wrap up the end of the school year!