Lauren Nevada is a fashion designer from Boulder, Colorado, who has planted roots in Tunisia with her husband and children. She finds daily inspiration from her life in Tunisia.
What’s your connection to Tunisia?
My husband is Tunisian. We met in Paris and lived there for a long time. But finally we felt that we wanted to create something in Tunisia. So we moved to La Marsa, a cute little seaside town about an hour from the capital, Tunis. My husband has a business here, as do I. It was important to us that our kids know the Tunisian culture and language. We enjoy afternoons by the seaside and the smell of jasmine in the warm summer night air.
What keeps you in Tunisia?
Family, great food, our businesses. There is an accepted flexibility to life here that allows us to travel often, both to Paris and the U.S. We can expose our kids to all of our cultures and see friends and family both in Tunisia and around the world. I have come to love the casualness of life here. Planning and organizing can be hard, but you always have good friends ringing your doorbell unexpectedly to come and have a coffee, which I have come to love.
What is the most unexpected discovery you have made while living in Tunisia?
How subtle the culture is here despite the noise and chaos. It seems that everything is loud and bright at first, but when we peel back the layers there are interesting and surprising social rules that are not mentioned at first. Such as the ways that people show they like you—they take care of you, send food home with you after dinner at their houses, treat your children like their own, take care of friends of friends. It is a very rich and interesting culture.
Graffiti in the Tunis medina
What changes have you observed there over the years?
It is hard to say since I have gotten to know Tunisia better, and so my perspective has changed a lot over the three years that I’ve lived here and over 10 years that I have visited Tunisia. One thing that I noticed after the revolution was graffiti for the first time ever. While graffiti is costly to clean up and obviously illegal, it was at the same time beautiful to see. It showed that people felt like they were living in their own country, which finally belonged to them. They were able to express themselves how they wanted.
How is Tunisia related to your current work?
I live here and find my daily inspiration from much of the relaxed and interesting life around me. I create my patterns in a little atelier here and work with a couple seamstresses to sew my pieces.
What does Tunisia mean to you?
It is a place where we are all growing. My world as a designer is growing and developing. My husband’s business is growing, and my young children are growing up here too. So, this is a place where we are all learning to be a family together and building our passions. It is an exciting time of life for us now.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Color inspires me a lot. Colors have a texture and rhythm to them. Different colors seem to dance together, complementing and balancing each other out. I am also inspired by amazing women out there, whose stories show their spirit and will.
How do you draw from Tunisian culture and traditions?
There is a traditional artisan aesthetic that is very unfinished and hand made. I love this look, and while my pieces have a luxury level of finishing, I try to keep that handmade look at the same time. It is a delicate balance, but I love thinking that my clothes look like they came from somewhere. Often clothes are too slick and they look like they came from nowhere, and this is kind of destabilizing. Every piece of clothing was made by someone, and this someone has their own story and life, just like the consumer. This transition from maker to wearer is important.
Where is your favorite place to vacation or visit within Tunisia?
There are so many beautiful spots here—turquoise blue beaches, forests filled with pines, etc. But I love my home. I love our little beach in La Marsa and actually feel a bit like I’m on vacation everyday here.
What restaurants or places do you return to?
In the last year there have been a plethora of new coffee shops that have opened around La Marsa, which is so nice. There are several by the La Marsa market, including a new Ben Yedder. Good coffee is always within reach! We often go to places where we can enjoy the outdoors. Parks with cafes are great, and there is an equestrian center and farm about 45 minutes away where we have an organic brunch while the kids play and visit the animals. This is one of my favorite places.
Tea and walnut stuffed dates
What is one Tunisian dish and drink you crave?
I love little glasses of sweet hot mint tea. I adore a lot of street food actually: bambolonis (fresh donuts), lablabi (stew with chickpeas, cumin, egg, spicy harissa, etc.). The little “spice store” around the corner sells these homemade flatbreads folded in half with tomatoes and caramelized onions inside that a lady makes in her home and brings by fresh each day for the store to sell. They are amazing.
Roman ruins at Dougga
What is one thing every visitor to Tunisia should experience?
An afternoon by the seaside, a trip to le Safsaf in La Marsa for tea, a walk through downtown Tunis with its tall French style buildings, a trip to Dougga to see the Roman ruins, a stroll up to Sidi Bou Said on a hot summer evening, a visit to a traditional hammam bath. I can’t choose just one! Tunisia is all of these things and more, all rolled together.
What do you wish the world knew about Tunisia?
That it is a slow country that is at the same time chaotic and full of energy. I can’t explain how these two characteristics can exist together, but here they do. The food is great and people are also polarized—they will be horribly difficult one moment and then amazingly nice the next. And if you spend enough time, here you will learn to love both sides, which you thought you’d never do when you first arrived.